Perception and affordability of long-lasting insecticide-treated nets among pregnant women and mothers of children under five years in Ogun State, Nigeria

Abstract

Despite the distribution of long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLINs) in Nigeria, access to and use of LLINs continues to be minimal. Little is also known about the perceived fair price people are willing to pay for LLINs in Ogun State, South-West Nigeria. Data were collected using semi-structured questionnaire among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics and mothers of under-five children in randomly-selected malaria holo-endemic communities of Ijebu North and Yewa North local government areas of Ogun State. Results showed that only 23.6% of 495 respondents owned and were using LLINs. One of the main reasons for non-use of LLINs was unaffordability of LLIN cost. 84.2% of the 495 respondents were willing to pay at a hypothetical price of N800.00 (US$5.00) for a LLIN, 15.6% were unwilling and 0.2% was indifferent to buying it at the price. Their willingness to pay was significantly determined by education and occupation (p=0.00). Health education strategies need to be developed to increase awareness and demand for LLINs. However, there is the need to take into account preferred access outlets and the diversity in willingness to pay for LLINs if equity to access is to be ensured in the study communities.

The Challenges of Using Insecticides Treated Nets (ITNs) in Curbing Malaria in Nigeria: A 2000-2018 Systematic Review

“…Out of the seventeen included articles, fifteen were cross sectional studies [2][3][4][5]11,12,14,[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23], one study [13] was a randomised controlled trial and one prospective study [24] was also included.…”

“…A total of six included studies [4,5,[16][17][18]23] were conducted in the South West, while four were carried out in the South East region of Nigeria [11,13,14,22]. population, while one study [18] used health workers, accounting for 22% and 4% of total sample size.…”

“…At the end of the critical appraisal process, a total of 13 studies with clearly stated aims, correct and right methods, consistent and relevant findings, had a score of 10. A further, 3 articles [3,16,17] had a score of 9. Also, one article [4] had the least score of 8 because, although the research aim(s) was known, it was not clearly stated in the study.…”

“…Adeneye, et al [16] Wet-Season Hypo-endemic Knowledge of ITN was found to be low (44.4%), and use is affected largely by hot night temperature (heat) (4%) and the non-availability of space for hanging nets (2%).…”

“…Nigeria has a tropical weather condition and temperature of about 22 °C-37 °C, according to the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) [28]. The unavailability of power/electricity, especially at night in most part of the country, coupled with the hot temperature has reportedly resulted in non-use of ITNs as reported by 12 out of the 17 included studies [2,3,5,11,13,14,16,17,20,22,23,29]. Studies from different countries reported similar findings [27,30].…”