The development of insecticide-treated durable wall lining for malaria control: insights from rural and urban populations in Angola and Nigeria

• Published in: Malaria Journal
• Main Authors: Messenger Louisa A, Miller Nathan P, Adeogun Adedapo O, Awolola Taiwo, Rowland Mark
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2012
• Subjects: Durable wall lining; ZeroVector®; Insecticide-treated plastic sheeting; Malaria control; Acceptability; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Infectious and parasitic diseases; RC109-216; Arctic; Kap
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-11-332; https://doaj.org/article/3f5caa0de1ce4c71b91d382c80050c7b

Abstract Background Durable lining (DL) is a deltamethrin-impregnated polyethylene material, which is designed to cover domestic walls that would normally be sprayed with residual insecticide. The operational success of DL as a long-lasting insecticidal substrate will be dependent on a high level of user acceptability as households must maintain correctly installed linings on their walls for several years. Preliminary trials were undertaken to identify a material to develop into a marketable wall lining and to assess its level of acceptability among rural and urban populations. Methods In Angola (n=60), prototype DL and insecticide-treated plastic sheeting (ITPS) were installed on urban house walls and ceilings, respectively, and acceptability was compared to indoor residual spraying (IRS) (n=20) using a knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) questionnaire. In Nigeria (n=178), three materials (prototype DL, ITPS and insecticide-treated wall netting) were distributed among rural and urban households. User opinions were gathered from focus group discussions, in-depth interviews and KAP questionnaires. Results In Angola, after two weeks, the majority of participants (98%) expressed satisfaction with the products and identified the killing of insects as the materials’ principal benefits (73%). After one year, despite a loss of almost 50% of households to refugee repatriation, all 32 remaining households still asserted that they had liked the DL/ITPS in their homes and given the choice of intervention preferred DL/ITPS to IRS (94%) or insecticide-treated nets (78%). In Nigeria, a dichotomy between rural and urban respondents emerged. Rural participants favoured wall adornments and accepted wall linings because of their perceived decorative value and entomological efficacy. By contrast, urban households preferred minimal wall decoration and rejected the materials based upon objections to their aesthetics and installation feasibility. Conclusions The high level of acceptability among rural inhabitants in Nigeria ...