NJOMACS

This study investigated the effectiveness of the communication strategies deployed by the Federal Ministry of Health in its malaria campaigns in the FCT, Abuja. The rationale for the study stems from growing concerns that despite the various communication efforts by the Ministry of Health in the campaigns against malaria in FCT, the burden of the disease has continued to increase. The study employed survey research design and data was collected through 380 valid questionnaire administered across four Area Councils of FCT (AMAC, Bwari, Gwagwalada and Kwali). The study was anchored on the Theory of Planned Behaviour and the Agenda Setting Theory. The study found that the ministry's communication strategies were not effective, with 50.5% of respondents saying they were not effective; 34.7%, slightly effective; 6.8%, very ineffective while only 8.4% said they were effective. It found that malaria messages were rarely and occasionally disseminated and mostly relied on a top-down communication approach. The study concluded that while there is some level of awareness about the ministry's communications strategies in the campaign against malaria, the effectiveness is low. The study, among others, recommended an increase in the frequency of dissemination of malaria messages, adopting a bottom-up/participatory communication approach, and combining both English and local languages in malaria campaigns for better outcomes.