Socio-Cultural Perceptions About Mass Drug Administration Campaigns Targeted at Neglected Tropical Diseases

Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) are a group of diverse communicable, disabling, chronic and disfiguring diseases that prevail in tropical and subtropical conditions. Over 20 diseases have been categorized as NTDs by WHO, with more than 1 billion people affected across 149 countries.  

NTDs are more common in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) with about 500 million people affected, and 25% of this burden are shared with Nigeria, making it a leading country in terms of endemicity for the common NTDs. This study aims to understand the socio-cultural context of communities, and to investigate the socio-cultural perceptions of the populace towards mass drug administration (MDA) programme. The study will be community based and cross-sectional in design. Qualitative and quantitative data will be collected using a mixed method approach, the local government to be used will be purposively selected based on hard to reach areas. The research instruments will capture information on demographic characteristics of the respondents. Interviews will be conducted in local language and consent form will be dully filled and signed by participants or the guardians of participants who are below 16 years.  Data obtained during the survey will be subjected to descriptive analysis in SPSS 20.0 software, and results will be reported in frequencies and percentages. Focus Group Discussions shall be recorded and transcribed verbatim after each interview. Transcribed discussions will be analyzed against thematic concepts. Upon completion, this study will provide information on the awareness, socio-cultural context, and the perceptions of the community populace of hard to reach areas about MDA programs, also their acceptance and participation in the different treatment campaign towards eliminating NTDs.