title: Distribution of Subsidized Insecticide-treated Bed Nets through a Community Health Committee in Boboye Health District, Niger.
abstract: In Niger, insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) have been distributed to the target group of households with young children and/or pregnant women at healthcare facilities in the course of antenatal/immunization clinics. With the aim of universal coverage, ITNs were additionally distributed to households through strengthened community health committees in 2009. This study assessed the impact of the community-based net distribution strategy involving community health committees in the ITN coverage in Boboye Health District, Niger. A cross-sectional survey was carried out on 1,034 households drawn from the intervention area (the co-existence of the community-based system together with the facility-based system) and the control area (the facility-based system alone). In the intervention area, 55.8% of households owned ITNs delivered through the community-based system, and 29.6% of households exclusively owned ITNs obtained through the community-based system. The community-based system not only reached households within the target group (54.6% ownership) but also those without (59.1% ownership). Overall, household ITN ownership was significantly higher in the intervention area than in the control area (82.5% vs. 60.7%). In combination, the community-based system and the facility-based system achieved a high ITN coverage. The community-based system contributed to reducing leakage in the facility-based system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and International Health, Graduate School of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa 903-0215, Japan.
authors.forename: Daisuke
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nonaka
authors.forename: Abani
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maazou
authors.forename: Shigeo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamagata
authors.forename: Issofou
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Oumarou
authors.forename: Takako
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Uchida
authors.forename: Honoré Jg
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Yacouba
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Tsutomu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takeuchi
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mizoue
keywords: Niger; community participation; community-based net distribution; insecticide-treated bed net; malaria