Multi-country comparison of delivery strategies for mass campaigns to achieve universal coverage with insecticide-treated nets: what works best?

Background: The use of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) is widely recognized as one of the main interventions to prevent malaria. High ITN coverage is needed to reduce transmission. Mass distribution campaigns are the fastest way to rapidly scale up ITN coverage.

Impact of a behaviour change intervention on long-lasting insecticidal net care and repair behaviour and net condition in Nasarawa State, Nigeria.

Background: While some data on net durability have been accumulating in recent years, including formative qualitative research on attitudes towards net care and repair, no data are available on how the durability of a net is influenced by behaviour of net maintenance, care and repair, and whether behavioural change interventions (BCC) could substantially impact on the average useful life of the net.

Methods: The study used an intervention-control design with before-after assessment through repeated cross-sectional household surveys with two-stage cluster sampling following Nasarawa State's December 2010 mass campaign. All campaign nets were 100-denier polyester, long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLIN).

What happens to lost nets: a multi-country analysis of reasons for LLIN attrition using 14 household surveys in four countries.

Background: While significant focus has been given to net distribution, little is known about what is done with nets that leave a household, either to be used by others or when they are discarded. To better understand the magnitude of sharing LLIN between households and patterns of discarding LLIN, the present study pools data from 14 post-campaign surveys to draw larger conclusions about the fate of nets that leave households.

Methods: Data from 14 sub-national post-campaign surveys conducted in Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria (10 states), and Uganda between 2009 and 2012 were pooled.

Universal coverage with insecticide-treated nets - applying the revised indicators for ownership and use to the Nigeria 2010 malaria indicator survey data.

Background: Until recently only two indicators were used to evaluate malaria prevention with insecticide-treated nets (ITN): "proportion of households with any ITN" and "proportion of the population using an ITN last night". This study explores the potential of the expanded set of indicators recommended by the Roll Back Malaria Monitoring and Evaluation Reference Group (MERG) for comprehensive analysis of universal coverage with ITN by applying them to the Nigeria 2010 Malaria Indicator Survey data.

Methods: The two additional indicators of "proportion of households with at least one ITN for every two people" and "proportion of population with access to an ITN within the household" were calculated as recommended by MERG.