IntroductionInsecticide-treated nets (ITNs) stood at center in the current efforts to prevent and control malaria at community and individual levels. Though ITNs are the most prominent measure for large-scale deployment in highly endemic areas their compliance in terms of ownership and usage needs attention. The aim of this study was therefore to determine the ownership and utilization pattern of ITNs in Harari Peoples National Regional state, Ethiopia.MethodsA community based cross-sectional study was conducted in Harari National Regional State from September to October, 2012. A total of 784 households were included from malarious areas. Data were collected by using structured questionnaires and observational checklist.ResultsAbout 57.9% of participants had at least one ITNs. The utilization of ITNs based on history of sleeping under net in the previous night was 73.3%. Regarding proper use of ITNs, 57.9% of respondents demonstrated proper hanging and tucking. Those households with secondary school education (AOR: 1.775(1.047, 3.009)), knowledge about ITNs use (AOR: 2.400(1.593, 3.615)) and knowledge of malaria transmission by bite of mosquito (AOR: 1.653(1.156, 2.365)) have more likely hood to own ITNs.ConclusionITNs Ownership was low as compared to the target by Federal ministry of Health of Ethiopia. Though utilization of ITNs was promising, there are still significant number of participants who demonstrate hanging and tucking improperly. Therefore, health bureau need to work towards increasing the distribution of ITNs per household and also provide health information through health extension workers to enhance regular and proper usage of the ITNs.

Despite the increasing levels of pollution in many tropical African countries, not much is known about the strength and weaknesses of policy and institutional frameworks to tackle pollution and ecological status of rivers and their impacts on the biota. We investigated the ecological status of four large river basins using physicochemical water quality parameters and bioindicators by collecting samples from forest, agriculture, and urban landscapes of the Nile, Omo-Gibe, Tekeze, and Awash River basins in Ethiopia. We also assessed the water policy scenario to evaluate its appropriateness to prevent and control pollution. To investigate the level of understanding and implementation of regulatory frameworks and policies related to water resources, we reviewed the policy documents and conducted in-depth interviews of the stakeholders. Physicochemical and biological data revealed that there is significant water quality deterioration at the impacted sites (agriculture, coffee processing, and urban landscapes) compared to reference sites (forested landscapes) in all four basins. The analysis of legal, policy, and institutional framework showed a lack of cooperation between stakeholders, lack of knowledge of the policy documents, absence of enforcement strategies, unavailability of appropriate working guidelines, and disconnected institutional setup at the grass root level to implement the set strategies as the major problems. In conclusion, river water pollution is a growing challenge and needs urgent action to implement intersectoral collaboration for water resource management that will eventually lead toward integrated watershed management. Revision of policy and increasing the awareness and participation of implementers are vital to improve ecological quality of rivers.

Wetlands are among the crucial nature based solutions for river water purification. The ecological quality of these multi-purposed ecosystems could be disrupted due to overloading of nutrients and other pollutants. We investigated the water purifying efficiency and ecological quality of three natural riverine wetlands located in urban area in southern Ethiopia. Of the three wetlands, Boye wetland is located in a densely populated area with intensive human activity, and the other two, Fisho and Kitto located in a relatively less populated area of Jimma town. We sampled water, macroinvertebrates, and diatoms, to compare sites before joining the wetland, within the wetland and after passing through the wetland. Considering both seasons, up to 74% TP, 73% DIN, and 77% BOD reduction was recorded. The lower concentration of nutrients, and BOD in sites after joining the wetland showed the presence of pollution attenuation. Macroinvertebrate and diatom based bio-indices depicted higher biodiversity and lower relative abundance of tolerant taxa in sites after joining the wetland, which implied the potential of studied wetlands to reduce pollutants and sustain biodiversity. The incoming streams of Boye showed bad water quality and heavily degraded ecological status (Ethbios score 8-10). Most of the sites associated with Boye wetland depicted a major ecological disturbance (Ethbios score < 44). The incoming streams of Fisho revealed moderate (Ethbios score = 58) and poor (Ethbios score = 20) water quality. Most of Fisho sites had a moderate water quality with significant ecological disturbance. Sites associated with Kitto wetland, had a slight ecological disturbance (Ethbios score of 93 and 72) and some with significant ecological disturbance (Ethbios index score between 45 and 59). The wetland fed by heavily polluted streams showed the most degraded ecological quality compared to the other two that are fed by less polluted streams. An RDA model visualized pollution gradient among sites. Generally, this study confirmed the potential of natural wetlands to mitigate nutrients and organic pollutants and sustain biodiversity. However, when the incoming water is heavily degraded, the retention of pollutants seriously affect the wetland's ecological quality.

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