In Ntcheu, Malawi we conducted the first of the regular 6-monthly Post-Distribution Surveys to assess net use and condition. We found very good results with net hang-up high at 90% across the population of 550,000 people. For 27 of the 37 areas that make up the district the hang-up rate was a very high average of 95% (range: 91-98%). For 10 districts the average was 84% (range 78-88%), 11 percentage points lower. AMF and Concern Universal (CU) both believed it possible to increase the hang-up rate in the 10 areas by 10 percentage points through additional, structured malaria education and hang-up activities with full involvement of the local communities. These activities took place between 23-27 Sep 2012. We expect to receive, and will publish, updated hang-up data for these 10 areas by the end of November 2012. The reason for this additional low-cost intervention was to seek the optimal impact of the nets distributed.
In the 6-months Post Distribution Survey, 7,646 randomly selected households were visited and 15,735 nets surveyed. Survey questions covered net use and net condition for both AMF and non-AMF distributed nets. The survey was carried out by staff from each of the 37 health centres and clinics in Ntcheu, with training and supervision by CU staff. The data was collected on written forms and entered by CU staff into a database to facilitate analysis.
The data is available on the AMF website.