title: Households with Insufficient Bednets in a Village with Sufficient Bednets: Evaluation of Household Bednet Coverage Using Bednet Distribution Index in Xepon District, Lao PDR.
abstract: In Lao PDR, the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) evaluates bednet coverage, often at the village level, using a coverage target of one net per 2.5 (or fewer) persons in a given population. However, in villages that meet the target, not all households necessarily meet the target or utilize all available bednets. This study explored households that fell short of the target and household utilization of bednets in villages that met the target of bednet coverage set by the NMCP. The person per net ratio (PPNR), which is defined as the population divided by the number of available bednets in a household/village, was used to determine whether a household/village met the NMCP target. Using a household survey, we collected and analyzed the data of 635 households in 17 villages in Xepon district in 2012. Households that fell short of the target (households with a PPNR of > 2.5 or no bednet) existed in every village. The proportion of these households differed greatly among the villages, ranging from 3.4-50%, with some households falling far short. Of the 635 households, 275 (43.5%) had at least one bednet that was not being used on the night preceding the survey and 131 (20.6%) had at least two. In conclusion, in villages that met the NMCP target, a considerable number of households fell short of the target, and the available bednets were not fully utilized in many of the surveyed households.
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Immunopathoetiology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus , Okinawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Daisuke
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nonaka
authors.affiliation: Savannakhet Provincial Health Department , Savannakhet, Lao PDR.
authors.forename: Tiengkham
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pongvongsa
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for Humanity and Nature , Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Futoshi
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Nishimoto
authors.affiliation: Xepon District Health Office , Savannakhet, Lao PDR.
authors.forename: Phetsomphon
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nansounthavong
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health and Welfare, Seinan Jo Gakuin University , Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for Humanity and Nature , Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Hongwei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Kenya Research Station, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University , Nagasaki, Japan.
authors.forename: Rie
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Takeuchi
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for Humanity and Nature , Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Moji
authors.affiliation: Savannakhet Provincial Health Department , Savannakhet, Lao PDR.
authors.forename: Panom
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Phongmany
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Health, School of Health Sciences, University of the Ryukyus , Okinawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
keywords: Laos; community health workers; community-based distribution; insecticide-treated bednets; malaria