Abstract

OWNERSHIP AND UTILIZATION OF LONG LASTING INSECTICIDE TREATED NET S IN OKAIUGA, NKWOEGWU AUTONOMOUS COMMUNITY, UMUAHIA NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, ABIA STATE

Obisike Victor Ugochukwu, Ehiogu Justina Onyekachi and Chikwendu Joy Ifenyinwa 

ABSTRACT

Malaria is endemic and a major public health problem, the majorcontrol measure put in place is t he use of Long Lasting lnsecticidetreated Nets (LLINs). Understanding the need for the Ownership andUtilization of long lasting insecticide treated nets (LLINs) is importantin monitoring and quantifying the impact of past and currentprevention and cont rol efforts of malaria. A cross sectional descriptiveresearch design study was carried out on a sample of three villagesunder Okaiuga, Nkwoegwu Autonomous Community, which include;Umuakam village, Um uosu village, and Nkataalaocha villageconstituting 120 households (40 households per village) to estimatetheLLINs ownership and usage. A semi structured Self administered andassisted questionnaire was used to collect data on demographics,malaria related knowledge, and the use of preventive measures. LLINsuse was assessed and out of 1 03 households only 86 83 %) ownedLLINs. Out of86 83 who owned LLINs, 74 86%) used theirs. Median household sizebeing 6.0 (3.0), intra household net accessibility was low, with one net 1 4 16 %) frequent.Some nets were obtai ned from mass distribution 1 9 22 %) and obtained 12 months ago’.LLIN utilization was modest and largely driven by recently acquirednets showing a desire toutilize them despite low coverage. These imply that mass and facility based distribution, andaware ness campaigns will remain relevant, but efforts for willingness to pay for LLINs www.wjpps.com │ Vol 14, Issue 4, 2025. │ ISO 9001:2015 Certified Journal │1874should be strengthened to sustain coverage and replacements of wornout nets. One of thetwo factors determining bed net utilization in the study area was the household size to bed netratio.

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