Purpose: Village Health Volunteers (VHVs) play a crucial role in delivering intensive malaria control activities mainly in rural and very hard to reach areas where people are limited access to health care services. The Myanmar Medical Association-Malaria (MMA-Malaria) Project strengthened the coverage of volunteer's network and upgraded their roles for effective malaria control in endemic townships.
Objective: To address the performance of VHVs and its associated factors regarding malaria control activities in Myanmar
Methods: In 2015, a cross-sectional study was carried out by using structural questionnaire among 150 VHVs from five townships of Myanmar where MMA-Malaria project has been implemented. Descriptive statistics was applied and Chi-square test was used for association between general characteristics, supportive, motivational factors and performance of VHVs.
Results: While almost all volunteers (96.0%) predicted to have good performance, only (44.0%) summarized present performance at a good level. Among the structured variables, female, monthly family income ≥400USD/ Month, experience being as a volunteer (1-2 years), good malaria knowledge, family, community support and other motivational facts were associated with performance of village health volunteers with p value of 0.037, <0.015, 0.006, <0.001, <0.001, <0.001 and 0.002 respectively.
Conclusion: Empowerment and strengthening of village health volunteers, in terms of improving knowledge, encouraging family and community support and motivation are essential for better performance of village health volunteers regarding malaria control activities.