Socioeconomic Inequality in the use of Malaria Preventive Measures among Household in Nigeria

Background: Malaria remains a major public health challenge in Nigeria. Considerable effort has been made to reduce the prevalence and impact of the disease in the last decade but it still suffers the world’s greatest malaria burden with approximately 51 million cases and 207,000 deaths reported annually (approximately 30 % of the total malaria burden in Africa), while 97 % of the total population (approximately 173 million) is at risk of infection. Malaria accounts for 60 % of outpatient visits to hospitals and led to approximately 11 % maternal mortality and 30 % child mortality.Objectives: The aim of this study is to assess the socioeconomic related inequalities in Malaria prevention interventions.Methods: This study was conducted in May 2019 in Nigeria. Data was collected for analysis from the Malaria indicator survey 2015 which was done among 7745 households. Mosquito nets ownership, Indoor residual sprays coverage and antimalarial use among pregnant women in the households was assessed. The inequality was measured using the concentration indices and concentration curve. Decomposition was used to decompose inequality into its determinants.Results: The Erreyger s normalized concentration index was 0.014481 for mosquito nets, -0.17448 for IRS and 0.28747 for anti-malarial drugs among pregnant women respectively. The main determinant of Inequality in the use of antimalarial drugs among pregnant women was mainly associated with low educational status. Conclusion: The Mosquito nets coverage was high among poor households probably because they were distributed free during mass campaign and routine immunizations, IRS coverage was very low in both the rich and poor households and there is a large gap in the use of antimalarial drugs among pregnant women in the households

کلیدواژه ها:

Inequality analysis ، Malaria prevention ، Concentration index