Impact of a decade-long anti-malaria crusade in a West African community

ObjectiveTo assess the rate of utilization of long lasting insecticide treated bed nets (LLINs) which is one of the cardinal components of the program, a decade-long antimalarial campaign under the roll back malaria (RBM) initiative.MethodsThe study was carried out between October and December 2009 and cross-sectional in nature involving adult women in Otukpo town and environs. Households were selected using systematic sampling methods where all the adult women in each household were interviewed. Relevant information such as age, marital status, occupation, utilization of LLINs and reasons for non-utilization were obtained. Data obtained were analysed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and regression coefficient.ResultsAlmost 100% (3 154) of the respondents could associate malaria fever with mosquito bite although other causes were also mentioned. The overall any bed net utilization in Otukpo town was found to be 58.3% (1 849). LLINs utilization was found to be 23.3% (739). 35.0% (1 110) used untreated bed nets while 41.7% (1 322) had no bed net. Positive predictors for LLINs utilization were increasing educational levels, increasing wealth index and presence of an under five child, while lower wealth index and cultural beliefs negatively contributed to LLINs utilization.ConclusionsThe RBM program in the community has failed to yield the desired results. Efforts should be intensified towards addressing the socioeconomic, cultural, literary and logistic factors in order to reach this goal.