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CSU 24/2008: PREVENTING CHILD MALARIA BY PROTECTING ADULTS WITH BED NETS
To date, most distribution programmes for malaria bed nets have used the
high risk approach, distributing to pregnant women and either infants or
under-fives. In this article from PLOS/Medicine, Killeen and colleagues
make the case for ‘nets for all.’
From their findings and conclusions:
’We show that high (80% use) cut exclusively targeted coverage of young
children and pregnant women (representing<20% of the population) will
deliver limited protection and equity for these vulnerable groups. In
contrast, relatively modest coverage (35 to 65% use, with this threshold
depending on ecological scenario and net quality) of all adults and
children, rather than just vulnerable groups, can achieve equitable
community wide benefits equivalent to or greater than personal
protection. . . . Coverage of entire populations will be required to
accomplish large reductions of the malaria burden in Africa. While coverage of vulnerable
groups should still be prioritized, the equitable and communal benefits of
wide-scale ITN use by older children and adults should be explicitly
promoted and evaluated by national malaria control programmes.’
Those (highly numerate) readers who wish to consult the whole article can
access it at
http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0040229
The text is challenging; the extensive footnotes are a usefulintroduction
to the whole subject of bed nets.
Good reading.
BD
To date, most distribution programmes for malaria bed nets have used the
high risk approach, distributing to pregnant women and either infants or
under-fives. In this article from PLOS/Medicine, Killeen and colleagues
make the case for ‘nets for all.’
From their findings and conclusions:
’We show that high (80% use) cut exclusively targeted coverage of young
children and pregnant women (representing<20% of the population) will
deliver limited protection and equity for these vulnerable groups. In
contrast, relatively modest coverage (35 to 65% use, with this threshold
depending on ecological scenario and net quality) of all adults and
children, rather than just vulnerable groups, can achieve equitable
community wide benefits equivalent to or greater than personal
protection. . . . Coverage of entire populations will be required to
accomplish large reductions of the malaria burden in Africa. While coverage of vulnerable
groups should still be prioritized, the equitable and communal benefits of
wide-scale ITN use by older children and adults should be explicitly
promoted and evaluated by national malaria control programmes.’
Those (highly numerate) readers who wish to consult the whole article can
access it at
http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0040229
The text is challenging; the extensive footnotes are a usefulintroduction
to the whole subject of bed nets.
Good reading.
BD