Malaria control under the Taliban regime: insecticide-treated net purchasing, coverage, and usage among men and women in eastern Afghanistan

Table 1 Percentage reported malaria knowledge and practices, comparing ITN-owning to non-owning households

	% ITN Non-owners (n = 214)	% ITN Owners (n = 200)
What causes malaria?
Mosquitoes	77	73
Water	18	20
Other/Don't know	6	8
Where do mosquitoes breed?
Water	58	69
Grass	23	20
Other/Don't know	19	12
Malaria season
Summer	46	40
Spring/Summer	33	39
Autumn	11	11
Other/All	10	10
Who is at most risk from malaria?
Children	50	48
Women and children	25	19
Everyone	21	17
Pregnant women and under-fives*	1	10
Women	3	4
Aged	1	2
What is the best malaria protection?*
ITNs	74	86
IRS	12	7
Other (e.g. electric fans)	7	5
Traditional	3	1
Don't know	4	1
What current malaria protection do you use?* ¹
ITNs	4	95
Other (e.g. smoke, chadors)	92	1
Insecticide spray	4	3
Traditional	0	1
Who in your household was seriously ill this year?
All	57	54
Children	35	32
None	4	8
Aged	3	3
Women	1	3
What is the best treatment for malaria?*
Chloroquine	68	79
Don't know	21	11
Traditional/Other	7	7
Paracetamol	4	3
Who makes treatment-seeking decisions?
Household head	92	90
Other	8	10
Where do you go for malaria treatment?
Get treatment at NGO clinic	42	48
Private doctor (unregulated)	35	24
Other/Combination	22	28
Private drug seller (unregulated)	2	1
Average reported costs for malaria treatment ²	(US$08)	(US$08)
Adult visit	0.58	0.44
Adult drugs	8.19	5.98
Child visit	0.56	0.42
Child drugs	5.25	3.89
Average costs per ITN ²	(US$08)	(US$08)
ITN (insecticide added at point-of-purchase)	6.50	6.50
ITN retreatment (annual)	0.07	0.07

NB: Sample size is 414. Logistic regression *p-value < 0.05 or ¹p < 0.001. ²Costs were not disaggregated by provider. Pakistani rupee 2000 prices have been converted to US dollar 2008 constant equivalents (US$08).

ISSN: 1475-2875