PDF, 1536K - Measure DHS

Affar Region. Education of the mothers is closely related to tetanus toxoid coverage. Women with no
education were three times less likely to have received any protection against tetanus than women with
secondary and higher levels of education. This large difference in tetanus toxoid coverage may be
attributed to the fact that educated women have greater access to modern health care, have a better
understanding of the benefits of tetanus toxoid vaccination, and are more willing to utilize health
services.
10.4 ANTIMALARIAL MEDICINE
Malaria is mainly a problem in the lowland areas of Ethiopia. Pregnant women are advised to
protect themselves and their unborn child from malaria through the intake of antimalarial medications
during their pregnancy. Table 10.5 shows the percentage of mothers in the five years preceding the
survey who received or bought antimalarial medication. Only 5 percent of mothers received or bought
antimalarial medicines during their pregnancy. Chloroquine is the most widely used antimalarial
medicine in Ethiopia, with 72 percent of mothers having received or bought this drug, compared with
19 percent of mothers who received or bought Fansidar (data not shown). There are no notable
differences by mother’s age and birth order in antimalarial-medication use. Women in urban areas are
twice as likely (8 percent) to receive or buy an antimalarial medicine as women residing in rural areas
(4 percent). Antimalarial medication varies somewhat by mother’s education. Women with secondary
education and higher are more likely (11 percent) to receive or buy antimalarial medicine during
pregnancy than women with little (7 percent) or no education (4 percent).
Table 10.5 Antimalarial medication and eating taboos
Percentage of women who had a live birth in the five years preceding the survey where the mother received/bought
antimalarial medication; and where mothers stopped eating specific foods for cultural reasons and among mothers who
stopped eating specific foods during the pregnancy, the type of food stopped eating, by background characteristics, Ethiopia
2000
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Received/
bought
Among mothers who stopped eating, type of food stopped eating
________________________________________________________
anti- Stopped
malarial eating Any Any Any
Background medica- specific Cheese/ kind kind of kind of
characteristic tion foods Number Milk butter of meat vegetable fruit Other Number
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Mother's age
at birth