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Understanding Mosquito Net Use at the Household Level

Malaria prevention efforts promoting insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) often assume that if a household gets a mosquito net, that net will actually be used and that those most vulnerable—children under five and pregnant women—will sleep under it. To date, there has been little data on the use of nets/ITNs within the household, and whether programs need to adjust their communication strategies to make sure nets are used and that the most vulnerable sleep under them. And little has been documented about other aspects of household net use that would be useful for planning and assessing ITN programs. The NetMark project of the Academy for Educational Development (AED) conducted household surveys in Nigeria, Senegal, and Zambia in 2000, and again in 2004 in those countries plus Ghana and Ethiopia.