Development of a malaria management model Thai-Myanmar border area, Ranong Province

Abstract

This participatory action research was consisted of 3 development steps: potential development, model formulation for malaria management, and evaluation of the developed model. Results of the study showed that, after participating the committee development, community leaders, and related persons, knowledge regarding malaria management increased from being in low level (lower than 60.0 percent) to a high level (higher than 80 percent), and the knowledge gained from the program was be used to effectively manage malaria in the areas, resulting in the reduction of the spread of malaria, from infection detection rate of more than 1.00 % to 0.33 %. About 85 percent of the participants were satisfied with the services and information in operations to manage malaria. Results from the meetings to summarize lessons learned from the process also showed that  mechanisms from the three parts including organizational groups, capital, and knowledge created a collaborative learning process. It combined the power from network partners to strengthen community participation and saw that creating a network or encouraging the local sector or community to participate in learning is an increase potential for self-care. This will impact people in the areas to benefit from appropriate development that is efficient and sustainable.