Beatrice D Adeoye, Olutayo A Adebayo

Keywords: Bed net, insecticide, ownership, rural household, hunger

Abstract

Malaria remains a non-negligible cause of morbidity and mortality in Nigeria, despite the existence of effective prevention and control technologies. According to the World Health Organization, the use of mosquito nets can reduce malaria transmission up to 90%. In spite of the current efforts to provide free mosquito nets to vulnerable groups as part of the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goal, it is confirmed that net ownership does not always translate to use. Thus, this study examines hunger, mosquito net ownership, and prevention of malaria among rural dwellers in Ayegbaju-Ekiti,
Nigeria. Data for the study were generated through the administration
of 400 structured questionnaires to rural dwellers in Ayegbaju-Ekiti, and in-depth interviews (IDIs) involving 16 (8 men and women) participants. The study results revealed that the majority (56.5%) of the respondents did not own mosquito nets because their focus was channelled towards combating hunger and not on owning mosquito nets. Also, 72% of respondents strongly believed that mosquito nets are expensive and generate heat. Furthermore, malaria preventive strategies by rural dwellers were identified to be: wearing long
clothing to cover your skin, promotion of insecticide-treated mosquito nets, closing the doors and windows at evening time, spraying the house with insecticide, and applying mosquito repellent cream. The study recommends that there should be comprehensive educational campaigns in indigenous languages to improve
knowledge and understanding of malaria transmission, and the importance of using mosquito nets.

Author Biography

Beatrice D Adeoye

Department of sociology, Federal University Oye-Ekiti

Email: [email protected]

Olutayo A Adebayo

Department of Criminology and Security Studies, Federal University Oye-Ekiti

Email: [email protected]

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