Background: Consumers of health care want clear messages about malaria in order to make informed choices. Existing information on the subject is not always readily accessible to non-medical persons in rural communities in developing countries. Thus, a community education handbook on malaria control was developed to provide basic information to consumers in a simple way. Cochrane reviews produced by the Cochrane Infectious Diseases Review Group were used.

Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of the handbook in meeting the information need of consumers in a rural Nigerian community.

Methods: The handbook will be used to teach adults (randomly selected from households) attending a seminar on malaria control. A semi-structured questionnaire designed to test current level of awareness on issues related to malaria and malaria control will be administered to the participants (pretest), followed by a series of lectures on malaria control, based on the handbook. The same instrument will be used to ascertain whether or not knowledge improved (post-test). Focused group discussions will be held to obtain wider perspectives, or other information not revealed in the interview situation.

Results: Results of the evaluation will be presented. This evaluation will also offer suggestions for making health care information more consumer-friendly.