Ownership and Utilization of Long Lasting Insecticide Treated Bed Nets during pregnancy in Calabar, Nigeria

Abstract

To evaluate ownership and use of Long Lasting Insecticide-treated bed nets (LLITNs) among pregnant women attending secondary and tertiary health facilities in Calabar, Nigeria, a prospective study was undertaken over four months using a pre-tested questionnaire. Two hundred and four pregnant women were interviewed, 200(98%) registered for ANC, 124 (61%) owned ITN, only nine (7%) of these pregnant women who owned ITN slept under it every night. There was a great disparity between ownership and use of LLITNs among pregnant women (p-value=.000021). The low utilization of LLITNs could partly explain why up to 72% of the pregnant women in this study self-reported at least one episode of clinical malaria in this study. The utilization of LLITN by pregnant women is still sub-optimal, even years after this study was conducted. There is a need for a concerted effort by stakeholders to educate pregnant women that the benefit of LLITNs utilization outweighs its discomfort.