Background: Fever is one of the common clinical symptoms found among children suffering from various illnesses. India carries a substantial burden of febrile illness among under-five children which heighten the risk of malnutrition, mortality and morbidity. This study aims to determine the factors associated with delay in treatment-seeking for fever among under-five children in India. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out using the large-scale nationally representative data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4), conducted in 2015–2016. The data were collected by using four survey questionnaires i.e., Household Questionnaire, Woman’s Questionnaire, Man’s Questionnaire, and Biomarker Questionnaire. Delay in treatment-seeking was defined as taking a child for treatment after 24 hours of fever onset. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models were performed to assess the factors associated with delay in treatment-seeking behaviour for fever in under-five children. Results: In India, 31.12% (n = 7229) of the caregivers sought treatment for children after 24 hours of the onset of fever. Findings show no significant differences in delay in treatment-seeking behaviour by age groups and sex of children. Multivariate analysis revealed that the odds of delay in treatment-seeking behaviour of fever were higher among children from the poorest wealth quintile (AOR: 2.06; 95% CI: 1.85, 2.31), belonging to the scheduled tribe (AOR: 1.35; 95% CI: 1.24, 1.48), children who resided in rural areas (AOR: 1.14; 95% CI: 1.07, 1.22), children from the northeast region (AOR: 1.29; 95% CI: 1.14, 1.46), and children of caregivers who perceived distance to health facilities as a ‘big problem’ (AOR: 1.16; 95% CI: 1.09, 1.23). Conclusion: The study shows a high prevalence of delay in seeking treatment for fever among caregivers of under-five children in India. Delay in seeking treatment is associated with socio-demographic and socio-economic factors. Therefore, there is a need for intensified health promotion programs to sensitize caregivers on the importance of early health-seeking behaviour.

Rural Unqualified Health Practitioners (RUHPs) are more common in the village health system in India and other developing countries. They only provides primary care to patients with diarrhea, cough, malaria, dengue, ARI/pneumonia, skin diseases, etc. As they are unqualified so their quality of health practices is substandard and inappropriate to practices. The intention of this work was to assess the Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices (KAP) of diseases among RUHPs and proposing a blueprint of potential intervention strategies for improving their knowledge and practice. The study has used a cross-sectional primary data and adopted quantitative approach. For assessment purpose, a composite KAP Score was constructed for two diseases (malaria and dengue). The study observed that the KAP Score amongst the RUHPs are on average (about 50%) in most of the individual variables and composite scores for malaria and dengue in West Bengal, India. Their KAP score increased with age, level of education, working experiences, type of practitioners, using android mobile, work satisfaction, organization membership, attending RMP/Government workshop, heard WHO/IMC treatment protocol. The study suggested multistage interventions includes targeting young practitioners, allopathic and homeopathic quack, launching ubiquitous app-based medical-learning, and government-sponsored workshop should be significant interventions to improve the level of knowledge, change positive attitudes, and adhere to standard health practice.