Uncovering barriers to bilharzia prevention communication in Ugu district, South Africa

Female Genital Schistosomiasis (FGS), commonly referred to as Female Bilharzia (FB), is a prevalent yet socially obscure disease. Caused by a waterborne parasite, it affects millions of people all over the world. Although it is a global health concern, FB is more pervasive in Sub-Saharan Africa. Mo...

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Main Authors: Lauren Dyll-Myklebust, Duduzile Zwane
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Johannesburg 2022-10-01
Series:Communicare
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/1622
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author Lauren Dyll-Myklebust
Duduzile Zwane
author_facet Lauren Dyll-Myklebust
Duduzile Zwane
author_sort Lauren Dyll-Myklebust
collection DOAJ
description Female Genital Schistosomiasis (FGS), commonly referred to as Female Bilharzia (FB), is a prevalent yet socially obscure disease. Caused by a waterborne parasite, it affects millions of people all over the world. Although it is a global health concern, FB is more pervasive in Sub-Saharan Africa. Motivated by the rapid response to treatment as demonstrated by rural Zimbabwean women, an organisation known as the FB Project conducted research exclusively with this group. Based in KwaZulu-Natal’s Ugu District (Port Shepstone), the FB Project sought to raise an awareness of, to treat and ultimately eradicate the FB threat. This study investigated the most appropriate communication tools for achieving these goals. In 2012, in-depth semistructured interviews were conducted with a sample of 20 female teenagers from both rural and urban areas across the Ugu District. Their perceptions of this issue highlighted various sociocultural, economic and logistical constraints to effective FB communication. This paper explores these barriers and the implications they have for realising the project’s goals. The opinions that are voiced by the participants underscore the value of adopting a participatory communication approach to addressing a health problem. The researcher’s observations are also integrated into the discussion. The responses gathered from the participants were considered as recommendations that could support the design of a contextually-sensitive FB awareness campaign.
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spelling doaj-art-304f8460bed84111a1162b483737494b2025-01-20T08:55:03ZengUniversity of JohannesburgCommunicare0259-00692957-79502022-10-0134110.36615/jcsa.v34i1.1622Uncovering barriers to bilharzia prevention communication in Ugu district, South AfricaLauren Dyll-Myklebust0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8722-029XDuduzile Zwane1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5663-5935University of KwaZulu-NatalUniversity of Johannesburg Female Genital Schistosomiasis (FGS), commonly referred to as Female Bilharzia (FB), is a prevalent yet socially obscure disease. Caused by a waterborne parasite, it affects millions of people all over the world. Although it is a global health concern, FB is more pervasive in Sub-Saharan Africa. Motivated by the rapid response to treatment as demonstrated by rural Zimbabwean women, an organisation known as the FB Project conducted research exclusively with this group. Based in KwaZulu-Natal’s Ugu District (Port Shepstone), the FB Project sought to raise an awareness of, to treat and ultimately eradicate the FB threat. This study investigated the most appropriate communication tools for achieving these goals. In 2012, in-depth semistructured interviews were conducted with a sample of 20 female teenagers from both rural and urban areas across the Ugu District. Their perceptions of this issue highlighted various sociocultural, economic and logistical constraints to effective FB communication. This paper explores these barriers and the implications they have for realising the project’s goals. The opinions that are voiced by the participants underscore the value of adopting a participatory communication approach to addressing a health problem. The researcher’s observations are also integrated into the discussion. The responses gathered from the participants were considered as recommendations that could support the design of a contextually-sensitive FB awareness campaign. https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/1622Female Genital Schistosomiasis (FGS)Female Bilharzia (FB)Sub-Saharan AfricaFB ProjectKwaZulu-Natal’s Ugu Districtraise an awareness
spellingShingle Lauren Dyll-Myklebust
Duduzile Zwane
Uncovering barriers to bilharzia prevention communication in Ugu district, South Africa
Communicare
Female Genital Schistosomiasis (FGS)
Female Bilharzia (FB)
Sub-Saharan Africa
FB Project
KwaZulu-Natal’s Ugu District
raise an awareness
title Uncovering barriers to bilharzia prevention communication in Ugu district, South Africa
title_full Uncovering barriers to bilharzia prevention communication in Ugu district, South Africa
title_fullStr Uncovering barriers to bilharzia prevention communication in Ugu district, South Africa
title_full_unstemmed Uncovering barriers to bilharzia prevention communication in Ugu district, South Africa
title_short Uncovering barriers to bilharzia prevention communication in Ugu district, South Africa
title_sort uncovering barriers to bilharzia prevention communication in ugu district south africa
topic Female Genital Schistosomiasis (FGS)
Female Bilharzia (FB)
Sub-Saharan Africa
FB Project
KwaZulu-Natal’s Ugu District
raise an awareness
url https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/1622
work_keys_str_mv AT laurendyllmyklebust uncoveringbarrierstobilharziapreventioncommunicationinugudistrictsouthafrica
AT duduzilezwane uncoveringbarrierstobilharziapreventioncommunicationinugudistrictsouthafrica