Utilization of insecticide treated nets against malaria among pregnant women in Southern Nigeria

Abstract

Malaria remains one of the most important causes of maternal and child morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan African, despite the availability of effective intervention. Pregnant women are susceptible to symptomatic malaria due to the invasion of the placenta by Plasmodium. There are public health endeavours in promoting use of insecticide treated nets (ITNS), but there is dearth of data on effectiveness of such endeavour. This narrative review looks briefly at the historical background of use of ITNS against malaria, Government policy and program evaluation process on free ITNS for vulnerable groups, relevance of knowledge in use of insecticide treated nets among pregnant mothers, and the role of attitude and practice on effective use of ITNS in prevention of malaria. There is evidence that relatively few people in high-risk regions access and use ITNS. The low utilization of ITNs attributable to perceived cost, inability to adjust to size of the beds, and side-effects heat and ventilation when slept under it.

Utilization and Associated Factors of Insecticide Treated Bed Net among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Clinic of Addis Zemen Hospital, North-Western Ethiopia: An Institutional Based Study

“…This finding is a little bit comparable with studies done in Uganda (66.8%) [38] and Ghana (66.1%) [21]. However, the result of this research is higher than studies done in Nigeria in 2012(39.1%), 2014(49.2%), and 2017 (49.6%) [22, 25, 26]. The possible explanation of the difference may due to time variation, sociodemographic difference, and study design difference.…”

“…Even if the magnitude of malaria during pregnancy is high and there are different strategies to decrease the risk of malaria for vulnerable groups, many articles revealed that the use of ITNs by the pregnant woman in sub-Saharan countries including Ethiopia is very low [15–26]. And this low utilization of ITNs by pregnant women is affected by education status, occupation, residence, ownership of television or radio, religion, ethnicity, age, and family monthly income [27–37].…”

“…According to another cross-sectional study which was done in Shahsogo wereda, Ethiopia, among pregnant women, 15.8% of participants owned at least one ITN. From those pregnant women who owned ITN, 7.5% of participants had good practice of ITN utilization [26].…”

The Moderated Mediation Role of Malaria Knowledge and Household Income in the Relationship between Insecticide-Treated Mosquito Nets and Malaria

“…Moreover, the association between income and malaria preventive action was reported, where higher income groups are two times more likely to practice than low-income groups [51]. Access to the intervention was infl uenced by household income [52]. Although ITN is suggested as a means of malaria reduction, communities with large families and low incomes are more aff ected by malaria disease [53].…”

“…Likewise, the study revealed the association between income and practice of malaria preventive actions, where higher income groups are more likely to practice two times higher than low-income groups [51]. Besides, the report shows access to intervention is infl uenced by household income [52]. Moreover, malaria was reported as the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in low and middleincome countries [45,46].…”