Malaria in pregnancy: what can the social sciences contribute?

Abstract

We have proposed two models which encompass the different social factors that influence health-seeking behaviour for malaria in pregnant women and demonstrate how they are related to each other. Together with quantitative analysis, which evaluates the relative occurrence of the different factors and ranks them according to their frequency, qualitative analysis is incorporated to contextualise the factors, put them into a dynamic relation, and assess their relative weight and importance within the general social structure. We have developed these models for malaria in pregnancy because it is in this field that social sciences are particularly neglected. Research on and implementation of malaria control intervention for pregnant women have predominantly ignored community responses or, when considered, they have centred on single, isolated factors usually with the aim of designing “culturally sensitive” information, education, and communication messages. Reality, however, shows that the implementation of “simple” tools, like IPT delivery to pregnant women, is not so simple because community reactions are not taken into account.

With this article, we hope to create awareness among researchers of such complex interactions and the need of involving social sciences even for apparently “straightforward” interventions. Studying these interactions may help to improve the delivery of adequate interventions and thus contribute to reaching the Abuja Malaria Summit target of at least 60% of pregnant women adequately protected against malaria infection and its consequences. These models have to be taken as a first contribution to concisely cover social science aspects. We hope that they help to inspire future works in the malaria social science literature, particularly in the under-researched field of malaria and pregnancy.