Basic HTML Version
Journal of Mosquito Research, 2013, Vol.3, No.6, 45
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ISSN 1927-646X
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this study was carried out. The baseline studies were
conducted in January in both the study and control
groups.
3.1 ITN ownership, utilization and effects on
malaria
In the intervention group, net ownership as
determined by the possession of at least one ITN in a
household was found to be 58%. Most respondents got
their nets from health facilities during the
immunization campaigns of the Federal Government.
However, adequate utilization of the ITN by the child
sleeping under the net every night showed a different
picture. The mother’s account that the child slept
under the ITN last night was recorded and showed that
only 57% of those who owned nets utilized them
adequately. After the intervention, net ownership
increased to 100% while adequate usage increased to
83%. With such high ITN utilization rate, it is not
surprising that the prevalence of malaria in this group
dropped to 2.7%, a reduction in prevalence of malaria
by 93%. Some studies have shown that the incidence
of Falciparum malaria fell by 50% with about 100%
ownership and 50 -75% under five children sleeping
under the ITN (http://malaria.who.int/wmr2008/
malaria2008.pdf. Some countries in Africa such as
Eritrea (63% utilization) and Malawi (36% utilization)
have been able to significantly improve the utilization
of ITNs on a national scale between 2002-2004
(http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/2003/WHO_CDS_MAL_
2003.1093.pdf:17-27; http://www.rollbackmalaria.org).
In Senegal, net ownership increased from 11% in
2000 to 41% in 2004. In the Gambia, 77% of under
five children slept under the ITN following the efforts
of a National Impregnated Bed Net Programme.
Nigeria, Ghana and Togo are boosting net distribution
through the ITN Massive Promotion and Awareness
Campaign (IMPAC) as well as EPI plus. Nets are
distributed free to under five children alongside
measles and polio vaccination (Oresanya et al., 2008;
http://rbm.who.int/wmr2005/). Many mothers in the
survey attested to having received nets from such
immunization campaigns as evidenced by net
ownership of up to 50% in both the intervention and
control populations . The Nigerian Malaria Control
Programme also uses health facilities for routine
distribution (http://www.rollbackmalaria.org). Net
ownership is different from net utilization. Most
mothers were not putting their under five children to
sleep under the nets all the time. For the child to
benefit fully from the effects of the net, it should be
used all the time (http://malaria.who.int/wmr2008/
malaria2008.pdf; Baume and Marin, 2008).
The proportion of children less than five years
sleeping under an ITN has been rising in a few
countries. In Zambia, it rose from 1% in 1999/2000 to
23% in 2005/2006. In neighbouring Ghana, it rose
from 4% in 2002/2004 to 22% in 2005/2006
(http://www.un.org/millenniungoals/pdf/mdg2007.pdf).
Noor and others reported in 2009 that ITN ownership
was Less than 40% in Nigeria and other African
countries and ITN use by children less than five years
was 3.3% (Noor et al., 2009).
The appropriate use of ITN may be affected by
educational level as was found in this study. A
statistically significant association was found between
increasing levels of education and adequate utilization
of the ITN (p=0.034). Oresanya et al also found a
significant association between educational level and
use of ITN (Oresanya et al., 2008). The same authors
also report association with the season, color of nets,
child’s age, size of household. ITN use was higher in
the rainy season compared to the hot and dry season
(Taylor et al., 2008; Widmar et al., 2009).
In this study,
most of the respondents owned white nets (78%) but a
good proportion preferred blue (32%). If the mothers
do not like the colour of the nets they may not use
them. Many respondents who were not using the ITN
said this was because it was causing a lot of heat and
discomfort. Some of the participants advised that
more nets be made available to all mothers and
children while others wished the sizes will be bigger
so they could be used with family sized beds and life
span of the long lasting nets should be more than four
years. Lengeler reported that ITNs could reduce the
incidence of uncomplicated malaria by 50% compared
to non-users (Oresanya et al., 2008). This study shows
even higher reduction in the cases of malaria. Malaria
prevalence in this study was reduced by 93% in the
study group where the utilization of ITN was as high
as 83% following intervention.