Studies on Bed-Net Ownership and Utilization and other Mosquito Control Practices in Makurdi, Nigeria

Insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) is currently being rigorously promoted as a tool for malaria control. A study was conducted in five residential areas, namely, GRA, High Level, North Bank, Wadata, and Wurukum, of Makurdi to investigate the pattern of, and barriers against usage of ITNs. On-the-spot inspection, questionnaires and household checklist was employed to study household, mosquito net ownership and usage and mosquito control practices of the 478 households selected for the study. The results show a ratio of three adults to one child in the sampled population; deployment of mosquito nets in just 105 (21.9 %) of the households; significantly higher (P<0.05) bed net ownership in North Bank than in other residential areas; 11.2% and 6.2% of the children sleeping under untreated and insecticide-treated mosquito nets, respectively. High night temperature (27.0 % of the respondents) followed by high cost of mosquito nets (24.9%) were the main reasons for not owning and/or using nets of any kind. Only 13.3% of the households benefited from government’s :free distribution of mosquito nets while a significant proportion (80.0%) bought nets from the open market. A high proportion (89%) of the households applied insecticides indoor to control mosquito, this was significantly higher (P < 0.05) compared with other mosquito control measures. This study justifies the need to evaluate the current mosquito net distribution strategy and explore better cost-effective methods of distribution that will address emerging mosquito net utilization challenges.