Evaluation of the Use of Insecticide- Treated Nets (ITNs) in Aba, Nigeria Ezeigbo*1, O. R., Ibegbulem2, Z. O. and Agomoh1, N. G. 1 Department of Biology/Microbiology, Abia State Polytechnic, Aba 2 Department of Statistics, Abia State Polytechnic, Aba

Background Malaria control still remains a challenge in Africa, where 45 countries including Nigeria are endemic for malaria and about 588 million people at risk (WHO, 2008). While there are reports of up to 50% reduction in malaria episodes and deaths in some African countries (WHO, 2008), reports from Nigeria has not shown any significant reduction (Agomo et al., 2009). The reasons adduced for change in malaria prevalence in other countries were good surveillance and high intervention coverage (WHO, 2008). However, the best hope lies with the newly developed long – lasting treated nets which may retain their insecticidal properties for 4 – 5 years. It is found that while net replacement remains important, the more education about use and care of the nets are likely to increase the use of nets by households (Ngondi et al., 2011). It is worth mentioning that even when knowledge is a predictor of ITN use; it may not assure protection from malaria unless there is proper use and strong adherence (Biadgilign et al., 2005)

Material and methods The study was conducted in four communities in Aba, Abia State, Nigeria. Aba lies within the forest zone, along the west bank of the Aba river, at the Intersection of roads from Port Harcourt in River State, Owerri in Imo State, Umuahia (the State Capital of Abia State), Ikot Ekpene and Ikot Abasi in Akwa Ibom State. Aba being a rainy zone is prone to malaria because of flooding during the rainy seasons which promotes the breeding of mosquitoes. Ethical review, clearance of the research protocol and consent procedures were obtained from the Ethical Review Committee of the Department of Biology /Microbiology, Abia State Polytechnic, Aba. A cross-sectional approach was adopted through the collection of information from 500 households. The results were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS).

Results The result showed that 92.0% of the respondents have good knowledge of mosquito as the vector that transmits malaria. Out of 500 individuals sampled, 229 (59.8%) of the respondents own and use ITNs while 3.4% use none of the preventive measures. However, only 114 (38.1%) of this number that own ITNs use it every night. Table 1 shows the knowledge of respondents on the agent that transmits malaria. Table 1: Knowledge of the Respondents on the Agent that Transmits Malaria

Table 2 shows the Frequency Distribution of Different Home Management Methods (HMMs) used in Preventing Mosquito bites Table 2: Frequency Distribution of Different Home Management Methods (HMMs) used in Preventing Mosquito bites

Table 3 shows the Frequency Distribution of Different Home Management Methods (HMMs) used to Prevent Mosquito bites in the Communities Table 3 Frequency Distribution of Different Home Management Methods (HMMs) used to Prevent Mosquito bites in the Communities

Table 4 shows the Effect of Socio-demographic Factors on the Ownership of ITNs Table 4: Effect of Socio-demographic Factors on the Ownership of ITNs

Table 5 shows the Frequency of the Usage of ITNs Table 5: Frequency of the Usage of ITNs

Table 6 shows the Frequency of the Usage of ITNs Table 6: Reasons for non - adherence on the use ITNs

Conclusion The present study revealed that despite the people’s reasonable knowledge on malaria and its preventive measures, adherence to the preventive measures, particularly, as it concerns the insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) is not so encouraging. Factors identified as barriers to adherence to ITN use were heat, discomfort, problem with hanging and space. This factors were also identified by Bandura (1996) and Singh et al (2013). There is close association between ownership and usage of ITNs and as such serious awareness should be created to encourage ownership and usage of ITNs.

References Agomo, C.O., Oyibo, W.A., Anorlu, R.I. and Agomo, P.U. (2009). Prevalence of malaria in pregnant women in Lagos, South-West Nigeria. Korean J. Parasitol, 47(2): 179-183. Bandura, A.(2001). Social cognitive Theory: An agentive perspective. Annual Review of Psychology, 52(1-26). Biadgilign, S., Ayalu, R. and Haji, K. (2012). Determinants of ownership and utilization of insecticide-treated bed nets for malaria control in Eastern Ethiopia. Journal of Tropical Medicine, 2012, Article ID 235015, 7 pages. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/235015. Singh, M., Brown, G. and Rogerson, S.J. (2013). Ownership and use of insecticide-treated bed nets during pregnancy insub-Saharan Africa: A review. Malaria Journal, 12: 268, doi: 10. 1186/1475-2875-12-26. WHO (2008). World Malaria Report 2008, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.