Effective health education in rural Gambia.

This study measured the effects of structured health education on the incidence of skin, diarrhoeal, eye and respiratory diseases. It was aimed at teaching mothers of young children the importance of handwashing and skin hygiene. The incidence of skin, diarrhoeal and eye disease showed a statistically significant decline following the implementation of the programme. The effects were most marked in children under 2 years, and appeared to benefit children throughout the village, even though the key educational messages were targeted at only half of the mothers. Journal of Tropical Pediatrics 1999;45(4):208-214.