Health Awareness in Mozambique: Prevailing Misconceptions of Malaria, AIDS, and Cholera

Authors

Kendall Burr, Brigham Young University
Dr. Willis Fails, Brigham Young University

Keywords

health awareness, Mozambique, Malaria, AIDS, Cholera

College

Humanities

Department

Spanish and Portuguese

Abstract

Mozambicans only partially understand the nature of malaria, AIDS, and cholera, and I attempted to identify the major misconceptions they have regarding these three diseases. Their perceptions of how they are contracted, avoided, and treated are critically important to health awareness educators in the growing effort to combat these diseases. I found as my project progressed that my hypothesis—that there are several major misconceptions prevalent in Mozambique about these sicknesses—was not as significant a factor as a general ignorance and complete lack of understanding. The problem is not that they have incorrect perceptions of how to avoid and identify these diseases, but that they often have no such perceptions at all.

Recommended Citation

Burr, Kendall and Fails, Dr. Willis (2014) "Health Awareness in Mozambique: Prevailing Misconceptions of Malaria, AIDS, and Cholera," Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2014: Iss. 1, Article 708.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2014/iss1/708