ABCDR - The useful life of bednets for malaria control in Tanzania: Attrition, Bioefficacy, Chemistry, Damage and Insecticide Resistance.

The useful life of bednets for malaria control in Tanzania: Attrition, Bioefficacy, Chemistry, Damage and insecticide Resistance.

Long-Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLINs) are the front line malaria vector control tool in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), with most countries adopting universal coverage campaigns with free or subsidised nets. It is essential to understand the effective life of LLINs: that is the cost per year of protection that they provide. Public health policy makers may then use this information to select the most cost effective nets (rather than the cheapest that might not last very long), and estimate the correct timing of repeated distribution campaigns to ensure that maximal health gains are maintained. However, there is only limited knowledge from few countries of the effective life of LLINs under user conditions.

This study investigates LLIN effectiveness in eight districts of Tanzania, selected for their demographic, geographic and ecological representativeness of the country as a whole.

Objectives: To determine the useful life of LLINs from 1) a retrospective survey of Olyset® nets distributed by the Tanzanian Government two-to-four years previously; and 2) a prospective study of three different LLIN products (Olyset®, Permanet®2.0 or Netprotect®) over three years using a nation-wide sampling framework across eight districts in Tanzania.

Relevance to Tanzanian Public Health: The data collected will be of importance to policy makers and vector control specialists both in Tanzania and the Sub Saharan African region to inform best practice for the maintenance of high and cost-effective coverage and to maximise current gains in malaria control. We will make the data available to stakeholders including NMCP and their collaborators: MEDA, Natnets and WHO Vector Control Working Group on a 12 monthly basis throughout the life of the project to ensure that decision-making can be made in a timely fashion as data become available. We are bringing together a highly skilled multi-disciplinary team that will support Tanzanian vector control both now and in the future through the development of the GIS database and training of two Tanzanian students to PhD level.