BACKGROUND: In 2003, a study in Mali showed that 87% of episodes of uncomplicated malaria were first treated at home. We investigated whether treatment-seeking patterns in Mali had changed 10 years later.
METHODS: In 2013, we repeated the retrospective treatment-outcome study on 400 children with presumed malaria in the same area.
RESULTS: Most children with reported uncomplicated malaria were still first treated at home (76% [196/258] in 2013 vs 85% in 2003; p=0.006), rather than in modern health centres (20% [52/258] in 2013 vs 12% in 2003; p=0.01). Overall, 58% of children with uncomplicated malaria were treated with herbal medicine alone, a significant increase from 24% 10 years earlier (p<0.001). This was associated with an increase in use of Argemone mexicana decoction from 8% to 26% (p<0.001), with a reported cure or improvement in 100% of cases among those aged >5 years. For severe malaria, first treatment was sought less often from a traditional healer compared with 10 years earlier (4% vs 32%; p<0.001) and more often from a modern health centre (29% vs 17%; p=0.04).
CONCLUSIONS: Two trends that emerged are that there is a greater use of modern health facilities for treatment of severe malaria, and a greater use of traditional medicine alone for treatment of uncomplicated malaria.