Selecting alternative strategies for community health education in guineaworm control

Community health education strategies in guineaworm control can be applied at several intervention levels. Community development mobilizes local resources to provide safe water supplies such as wells. Mass education in schools and communities can teach personal protection measures such as filtering water. Training of volunteer community health workers produces front line staff, who by being culturally in tune with the community can demonstrate and promote the use of appropriate prevention and treatment measures. Advocacy assists community members to express their needs to government and ministry decision makers. All of these strategies have been applied in a community health education/primary health care program in Idere, Ibarapa District, Oyo State. Community development for well construction was found to be a long-term strategy that first must overcome problems of village organization and resource location. Mass education, to be effective, must have a simple and acceptable technology to promote. Trained village health workers must overcome traditional beliefs that inhibit use of preventive and treatment measures. Advocacy requires basic political education of community leaders. A variety of health education strategies is needed to address short- and long-term priorities as well as to overcome the different barriers to guineaworm control.