02716nas a2200241   4500000000100000008004100001653001500042653001900057653003900076653001300115653001400128653001400142100001900156700001400175700001300189700001900202245018200221856008800403300000800491490000600499520195500505022001402460       2016                            d10aPerception10aonchocerciasis10aNeglected tropical diseases (NTDs)10aEthiopia10aAttitudes10aKnowledge1 aWeldegebreal F1 aLegesse M1 aMedhin G1 aWeldegebriel Z00aKnowledge, attitude and practice of community drug distributors' about onchocerciasis and community directed treatment with ivermectin in Quara district, North Western Ethiopia.  uhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4822301/pdf/13104_2016_Article_2010.pdf  a2060 v93 a<p><strong>BACKGROUND: </strong>Onchocerciasis is one of the most important public health problems over large areas of tropical Africa countries including Ethiopia. The African Program for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC) has been working with ultimate goal of reducing the public health and socio-economic problems of onchocerciasis through administration of the tablet for continuous 12-15&nbsp;years using the strategy of yearly community-directed treatment with ivermectin (CDTI) in endemic areas of Africa to kill the microfilariae that invade the eyes and are present in the skin to be transported to another victim by the black fly. The objective of this study was to assess knowledge, attitude and practice of community drug distributors (CDDs) towards onchocerciasis and CDTI in Quara district.</p>

<p><strong>RESULT: </strong>Of all the study participating CDD 11.4&nbsp;% (9/79) said that they knew about the etiology of the disease, 35.4&nbsp;% (28/79) had good level of knowledge, 19 (24.1&nbsp;%) had good level of positive attitude and 18 (22.8&nbsp;%) had good level of positive practice about onchocerciasis. Similarly, 45.6&nbsp;% (36/79), 81.0&nbsp;% (64/79) and 29.1&nbsp;% (23/79) had good level of knowledge, attitude and practice about CDTIP, respectively. Being a female CDD (adjusted OR&nbsp;7.246, P&nbsp;=&nbsp;0.035, 95&nbsp;% CI&nbsp;1.147, 45.455) and being older than 35&nbsp;years (adjusted OR&nbsp;8.435, P&nbsp;=&nbsp;0.001, 95&nbsp;% CI&nbsp;4.53, 9.003) were significantly associated with the likelihood of having good level of knowledge about the disease.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSION: </strong>Although onchocerciasis is endemic in Quara district, large proportion of the CDDs had misconceptions about its causation, transmission and prevention. Therefore, CDTIP for onchocerciasis control need to be supported by proper and continuous training, and health education about different aspects of the disease.</p>
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