Health Education, Communicable and Non-communicable Diseases
Health education builds awareness, attitudes and behaviour that protect health. This domain tests the mode of transmission and prevention of major communicable diseases, the shared risk factors of non-communicable diseases, and the methods used to educate a community.
Health education
Objectives: awareness, favourable attitude, behaviour change and life skills. Methods include lecture, demonstration, group discussion, role play, posters, street plays and mass media.
Communicable diseases
- Malaria – Plasmodium parasite, transmitted by the female Anopheles mosquito, which bites at night and breeds in stagnant water. Symptoms: fever with chills, enlarged spleen. Diagnosis: blood smear.
- Dengue – virus carried by Aedes aegypti, a day biter breeding in clean stagnant water in containers; platelets fall.
- Tuberculosis – Mycobacterium tuberculosis, airborne droplets, treated with DOTS.
- Typhoid and cholera – contaminated food and water.
- HIV – blood, sexual contact, mother to child and infected needles; not by mosquito bites, handshakes or shared food.
Non-communicable diseases
Diabetes, hypertension, obesity, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Shared risk factors: tobacco, alcohol, junk food, physical inactivity, obesity and stress. Prevention: 60 minutes of daily activity, salt below 5 g a day, no tobacco, and regular screening.
Worked example
A village reports fever with chills every third day and enlarged spleens in several children. Reasoning: the periodic fever and splenomegaly point to malaria, so a blood smear is advised. Community action follows: drain stagnant water, use mosquito nets, and refer confirmed cases for treatment.
Traps that cost marks
- Saying dengue spreads in the evening – Aedes aegypti is a day biter.
- Claiming HIV spreads through mosquito bites or shared food.
- Classifying diabetes or hypertension as communicable.
- Listing only treatment while ignoring vector control and screening.