Abstract:
Background Uganda grapples with a considerable malaria burden, reporting prevalence rates of over 33% in some
regions. To address this, the Uganda Ministry of Health employs audiovisual platforms for disseminating malaria prevention messages. However, the impact of these messages on pregnant women’s knowledge of malaria prevention
remains insufciently explored. This paper therefore emphasizes the infuence of audiovisual messages on the knowledge of malaria prevention measures among pregnant women in Uganda.
Methods Secondary data obtained from the Uganda Malaria Indicator Survey (MIS) 2018–2019 was used for this
analysis. Women aged 15–49 were included in the study. A total of 8868 women were selected using a two-stage
sample design. The two stages of selection included clusters and households. Women who were currently pregnant were included in the study, resulting in a weighted sample of 721 women. Propensity score-matched analysis
was used to evaluate the impact of access to malaria messages on knowledge of prevention measures.
Results The study revealed that 39% [95% CI 34.0–44.2] of pregnant women were exposed to malaria messages
before the survey. Those exposed had a 17.2% higher knowledge [ATT=0.172; 95% CI 0.035–0.310] of using mosquito nets for prevention compared to those unexposed. Among women exposed, radios accounted for most form
of access to mass media campaigns [64.8, 95% CI 57.0–71.8] followed by interpersonal communication [45.0, 95% CI
37.6–52.6], community health workers [38.8, 95% CI 29.6–48.8], community events [21.4, 95% CI 15.8–28.3], and social
mobilization [18.3, 95% CI 12.7–25.8].
Conclusion Results highlight the importance of radios in spreading important malaria prevention messages to pregnant women. Being exposed to these messages is linked to increased awareness and knowledge about the proper
use of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) for preventing malaria. This fnding underscores the importance of evaluating diferent channels for mass media campaigns to ensure the efective delivery of information about malaria
prevention to the intended audiences.
