Knowledge, attitude and behaviour towards the use of insecticide treated mosquito nets among pregnant women and children in rural southwestern Uganda

The burden of malaria in Uganda remains unacceptably high,
especially among children and pregnant women. To prevent
malaria related complications, household possession and use of
Insecticide Treated mosquito Nets (ITNs) has become a common
practice in the country. Despite their availability, malaria remains
a foremost public health concern in Uganda. In our MR study, we
explored knowledge, attitude, and behavior towards the use of
ITNs as a nightly malaria prevention strategy among pregnant
women and children under five years of age in Isingiro district,
Southwestern Uganda. Of the 369 households enrolled, 98.1%
(N=362) of the respondents considered ITNs a key malaria
prevention strategy. The ITN possession rate was 84.0 % (N=310),
however, only 66.1% (N=205) consistently used them. 39% of the
respondents did not have a positive attitude towards ITNs. We
found a possession-utilization gap, and this requires engagement
of all stakeholders in the malaria prevention campaigns using ITNs through: a) government’s concerted effort to ensure universal access of right fit ITNs, b) end-user directed health education to emphasize positive attributes of ITN use, c) telling the ITN success stories to improve on the usage. This KT plan will work on this latter aspect.