Knowledge Attitude and Practice towards Visceral Leishmaniasis among Residents and Health Professionals in Welkait District, Western Tigray, Ethiopia

Visceral Leishmaniasis is becoming a major public health problem both in terms of geographical spread and incidence in Ethiopia although failed to attract the attention it deserves. Magnitude,public health impact and dynamics of the disease in Ethiopia are not well studied. Hence,this study was conducted in Welkait district to determine public awareness about the disease. Wekait is a highly productive area having a conducive environment for the spread of the parasite. A cross sectional study was employed in purposively selected sub-districts in which house to house survey was carried out using a pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire. A total of 288 participants (264 household heads and 24 health professionals) were interviewed to assess their knowledge, attitude and practice towards visceral leishmaniasis. Overall score of the participants showed that 59%, 95% and 53% of them were knowledgeable have positive attitude and good practice on visceral leishmaniasis, respectively. Sex, educational status and history of travel profile showed significant association with the knowledge of participants. The study also revealed a gap in the knowledge and practices of health professionals about the disease. The present study highlighted an overall positive attitude regarding the disease. However, the gap in knowledge and poor practice calls for an intervention to improve the public awareness regarding visceral leishmaniasis in the study area.