The Department would like to congratulate Dr Abhishek Shivanand Lachyan on the successful completion of his Doctor of Public Health Viva Voce. The title of his thesis was “The Effect of Community-Based Intervention on Dengue Awareness and Prevention Among Urban Poor Community in Delhi, India. He was supervised by Assoc. Prof. Dr Rafdzah Ahmad Zaki and Associate Prof Dr Nasrin Aghamohammadi from the Department, and Professor Dr Bratati Banerjee from the Department of Community Medicine, Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi.

Thesis Abstract

Dengue contributes significantly to the disease burden of vector-borne diseases worldwide. Vector control is considered the most common approach to controlling dengue. Nevertheless, this can be successful with community participation, and increasing community awareness through engagement will positively impact the number of incidents. Hence, it becomes essential to investigate the community’s perception of disease and control approaches. This study aims to see how well an intervention program for preventing dengue fever in India’s poor urban communities
works with the housing index. This research is based on the Health Belief Model (HBM), a theoretical framework for preventing problems and coming up with ways to help people with problems. This study is almost an experiment, and 314 people from New Delhi’s Sanjay Colony are participating. There are two groups in the study. Among the 314 participants, 157 were assigned to the control group, and 157 were given to the intervention group of the Sanjay colony. This study was conducted for 12 months, from August 2020 to September 2021.

A pre-tested questionnaire was used to get baseline information from both the control and interventional groups. The outcomes were changes in house index (HI) from baseline to post-intervention 1 & 2, a three-month final follow-up, and a comparison between the two groups. The intervention group got a program to prevent dengue fever that taught them about the disease, how to take care of their health, and how to take care of their environment twice, one month apart. Post-intervention data-1 and post-intervention data-2 were collected after completing both intervention programs. The outcomes were changes in house index (HI) from baseline to post-intervention and three-month follow-up, along with a comparison between the two groups. We collected final follow-up data from both groups three months after the baseline. Overall, there was a statistically significant difference seen in the values between the groups (p <0.01) for Total Score for Disease caused by mosquitoes, with higher values in the intervention group at baseline to final follow-up (3 months) and Total Score (TS) knowledge, with higher values in the intervention group (p<0.001). Total score (TS) attitude had higher values in the interventional group (p <0.001), as did total score (TS) practices (p <0.001). There were significant changes in how people knew what caused dengue, how they understood the symptoms, and how mosquitoes behaved regarding breeding and biting. Compared to the regular program, there was a rise in the number of participants who participated in the intervention program. Both for post-intervention Data-2 and the final follow-up, the House Index (HI) decreased for the intervention group (p <0.05). The impact of the intervention on Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice showed crucial significance in the prevention of dengue fever. The Health Belief Model-based Dengue Prevention Program effectively lowers HI and improves people’s Knowledge and preventive actions in New Delhi’s poor urban neighbourhoods.

Keywords: Community-Based, Dengue, Housing, Intervention, Prevention.