Background: The study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of sensitization events targeting young males to improve their participation in active screening campaigns for Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT), also known as sleeping sickness, in Guinea. Despite progress towards eliminating HAT as a public health problem, challenges remain in detecting the last remaining cases, particularly among individuals, especially young men, who work in mangroves and are highly exposed to the tsetse fly vector.
Method: During the 2022 Football World Cup, coinciding with a door-to-door screening campaign in the Boffa focus of Guinea, football matches were used as an opportunity to sensitize the population. Twenty-seven villages were selected for screening, and four villages with recently diagnosed HAT cases were chosen to broadcast World Cup matches followed by a 30-minute sensitization movie about HAT in the local language. Demographic data were collected using an Open Data Kit system.
Results: The results indicated significant interest in the sensitization events, with over 500 attendees at all during the four days of broadcasting. A comparison of participation rates between World Cup villages (WCV) and non-WCV villages showed a higher proportion of males aged 8 to 27 participating in the WCV (17.7%) compared to non-WCV villages (14.6%). This difference was not observed for females of the same age group. Furthermore, compared to data from the previous year, there was an increase in the relative participation of young males from 16.4% to 19.6%.
Conclusion: Innovative strategies, such as using football matches for sensitization, are essential for reaching at-risk populations and identifying remaining HAT cases. Football holds significant cultural and social importance in Guinean villages, making it an effective platform for HAT sensitization efforts. Scaling up such strategies could further enhance awareness and participation in screening campaigns, ultimately aiding in the elimination of HAT transmission.
DO - 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5395219/v1 LA - ENG M3 - Article N2 -Background: The study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of sensitization events targeting young males to improve their participation in active screening campaigns for Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT), also known as sleeping sickness, in Guinea. Despite progress towards eliminating HAT as a public health problem, challenges remain in detecting the last remaining cases, particularly among individuals, especially young men, who work in mangroves and are highly exposed to the tsetse fly vector.
Method: During the 2022 Football World Cup, coinciding with a door-to-door screening campaign in the Boffa focus of Guinea, football matches were used as an opportunity to sensitize the population. Twenty-seven villages were selected for screening, and four villages with recently diagnosed HAT cases were chosen to broadcast World Cup matches followed by a 30-minute sensitization movie about HAT in the local language. Demographic data were collected using an Open Data Kit system.
Results: The results indicated significant interest in the sensitization events, with over 500 attendees at all during the four days of broadcasting. A comparison of participation rates between World Cup villages (WCV) and non-WCV villages showed a higher proportion of males aged 8 to 27 participating in the WCV (17.7%) compared to non-WCV villages (14.6%). This difference was not observed for females of the same age group. Furthermore, compared to data from the previous year, there was an increase in the relative participation of young males from 16.4% to 19.6%.
Conclusion: Innovative strategies, such as using football matches for sensitization, are essential for reaching at-risk populations and identifying remaining HAT cases. Football holds significant cultural and social importance in Guinean villages, making it an effective platform for HAT sensitization efforts. Scaling up such strategies could further enhance awareness and participation in screening campaigns, ultimately aiding in the elimination of HAT transmission.
PB - Springer Science and Business Media LLC PY - 2024 SP - 1 EP - 18 TI - An original strategy to promote Sleeping Sickness diagnostic participation in Guinea: How did the Football World Cup 2022 help to target the refractory young male population during an active screening Door-to-Door survey? UR - https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5395219/v1/1cd6382c-75d4-4861-a5af-b0013a8da189.pdf?c=1733735537 ER -