Insecticide-treated net ownership and utilization and factors that influence their use in Itang, Gambella region, Ethiopia: cross-sectional study

Abstract

BackgroundMalaria remains a major public health problem in Ethiopia. Consequently, Ethiopia designed the 2011–2015, Malaria Prevention and Control Strategic Plan to fight the vector. It was discovered that most of the studies conducted on the use of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) were not in line with the strategic plan of the country. This study aimed to assess ITN ownership and utilization, and includes barriers related to its use among the target-area population at household (HH) level.Materials and methodsA cross-sectional design was employed in Itang for this study. Data were collected by trained nurses through face-to-face interview and observation. A total of 845 participants were selected through multistage sampling, and the size was determined by using a single-population proportion formula. EPI Info and SPSS was used for analysis, and all necessary statistical association was computed in order to explain the outcome variable through explanatory variables of this study.ResultsAmong 845 HHs interviewed, 81.7% (690) had at least one ITN, while 52.3% (361) had used the ITN the night preceding the data-collection day. HH awareness of malaria prevention, number of ITNs, family size, number of family members sharing sleeping area/beds, sleeping patterns of adolescents, HH-head age, and inconvenience of using ITNs were found to be barriers to the use of ITNs in this study.Conclusion and recommendationThe study concluded that very few HHs owned ITNs and there was very low usage of ITNs. In recommendation, the regional health bureau and district health office should consider bigger nets that can accommodate family members who share the same sleeping area/bed in the area.

Trend of declining bed net utilization among pregnant women in Ethiopia: new data from the Arba Minch Health and Demographic Surveillance System, 2010–2016

“…This finding is in line with the study finding in Northern Uganda (35%) [11]. However, the finding is lower than the study finding from Bungoma Kenya (82.5%), South Eastern Nigeria (90.5%), Kilifi Kenya (70.5%), Democratic Republic of Congo (78.4%), in Eastern Ethiopia (62.4%), in Itang Ethiopia (52.3%) [9,10,13,14,16,20,21]. The possible explanation for the discrepancy could be the government of Ethiopia has invested a lot to eradicate malaria, as a result, the magnitude of malaria infection in Ethiopia declined which make them give less attention to malaria prevention and the use of bed nets.…”

Proper utilization of long lasting treated net and associated factors at Zuway Dugda district, Arsi zone, Ethiopia

“…Another studies done in Togo and Rwanda showed 71.4 and 72.3% utilization which is four fold than this result (America Association for Advancement of Science, 1991;ORHB, 2001). Similarly another study done in Kenya showed utilization of 53% (Watiro and Awoke, 2016), which is three fold of the current study finding. This might be due to geopolitics and socioeconomic differences of the study areas.…”

Previous Trend, Present Prevalence and Integrated Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Towards Malaria and Use of Insecticide-treated Mosquito Net in the Rural Setting of Welkait District, Northwest Ethiopia

“…Thus, taking ITN as a major malaria prevention tool [33], over three fourth of our study groups had enough information about the ITN although their sources were varied. However, the ITNs possession rate was found to be 64.0%, which was exactly consistent with 2016 countrywide coverage [2] but lower than the reports in Benishangul Gumuz (90.9%) [34], Arsi zone (84.2%) [20] and Gambella region (81.7%) [35] in Ethiopia. While higher than the study conducted in other similar studies in Raya Azebo and Harari, Ethiopia [32,36].…”