Abstract

Introduction: Two types of shapes of ITNs are being distributed in Malawi and these are rectangular and conical. Informal reports indicate that some people were not happy with the shape of the rectangular subsidised ITNs. Objectives: To determine the shape of ITNs that households in rural and urban areas of Blantyre district prefer to own. Specifically, the study wanted to find out: the shape and colour of ITNs that households in urban and rural areas of Blantyre would prefer to use; the bedding/sleeping pattern of households in urban and rural areas of Blantyre; reasons for preferring a particular shape of ITN; attitudes/perceptions/myths/beliefs of people towards each shape of ITN; feasibility of installing the preferred shape of ITN and relationship between preference of shape of ITN and social status of households in terms of education and wealth. Methodology: This was a descriptive cross sectional study involving household heads (men and women). The study was conducted in rural and urban areas of Blantyre district from March to July 2007. The study subjects (household heads) were selected by a multistage cluster sampling method. Questionnaires and FGDs were used to collect Quantitative and qualitative data respectively. The study interviewed a total of 1078 household heads. The study also conducted three FGDs sessions. Findings: It was found that 80.6% of the respondents preferred conical ITNs with easiness to hang as the major reason for the preference and 76.0% (818) of the respondents preferred blue to be the colour. Conclusions: The findings of this study should help policy makers understand the perceptions of the people of Blantyre regarding the type of ITNs in terms of shape and colour preferred.

More details

School	: College of Medicine
Issued Date	: 2008

Download full document