Knowledge, Ownership And Utilization Of Long Lasting Insecticide Treated Nets Among Parents And Caregivers Of Under-Five Years Children In Passo Community Of Gwagwalada Area Council Abuja, Nigeria

Abstract

Malaria is a major public health problem in Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa. Long lasting insecticide treated nets (LLIN) have been shown to be cost-effective in the prevention of malaria, but the number of people that actually use these nets in this setting has remained generally low. The objective of this study is to assess the knowledge, ownership and utilization of LLIN among caregivers of under-5 children in Passo, a semi-urban community in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja Nigeria. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted and a structured questionnaire was used for data collection. The study population were 215 parents and care-givers of under-five children selected using multistage sampling technique. More than half of the respondents had good knowledge of malaria and methods of its prevention. Despite high (80.5%) household ownership of at least one LLIN, overall utilization was only (43.3%). Amongst the respondents that did not own the LLIN, (11.9%) of them reported that they didn’t need it, (43%) of them said they could not afford the financial cost while (19.5%) of them said the net was not readily available to buy. About (54.4%) of the respondents did not use LLIN the previous night for reasons ranging from: perceived adverse effects (32.6%) with its use, LLIN causes excessive heat (59%) and (54%) did not use the net for other reasons. Utilization among this high-risk population remained far from 60% standard recommended by the Roll Back Malaria Programme, 2015 target. There is therefore the need to scale-up LLIN utilization in this setting through health promotion and education as well as the provision of the required LLIN.