Children Who Slept Under an Insecticide-Treated Bed Net

According to the WHO World Malaria Report (2017), the use of insecticide-treated bed nets has been shown to reduce malaria mortality rates by 55% in children aged under 5 years. This indicator therefore measures the proportion of children who spent the previous night in the interviewed households and slept under an insecticide-treated bed net.

Collect the following data by conducting individual interviews with the caregivers of a representative sample of children younger than 5 years:

RECOMMENDED SURVEY QUESTIONS (Q) AND POSSIBLE ANSWERS (A)

Q1: How many children under 5 years slept in your household last night?

A1:

1) ____ children

2) doesn’t know / no response

Q2: During the last night, did any of these children sleep under a mosquito net?

A2: yes / no

(ask the following questions only if the previous answer is YES)

Q3: How many of these children slept under a mosquito net?

A3:

1) ____ children

2) doesn’t know / no response

Q4: Can I please see the mosquito net(s) the children slept under?

A4: mosquito net was available / mosquito net was not available / refused to show a mosquito net

Q5 for enumerator: What type of mosquito net did the children sleep under?

A5:

1) insecticide-treated net [fill in the locally available types and brands]

2) other type of net

3) not possible to determine the type of net

To calculate the indicator’s value, divide the number of children under 5 years who slept under an insecticide-treated net by the total number of surveyed children under 5 (exclude all respondents who did not respond; who refused to show a mosquito net; or it was not possible to determine whether their net is insecticide-treated). Multiply the result by 100 to convert it to a percentage. 

Disaggregate the data by the respondent’s location and wealth category.

1) Ensure that the enumerators are very familiar with the locally distributed / sold types of mosquito nets, so that they can recognize them easily. Consider providing them with pictures of various types of nets.