IMPACT OF INSECTICIDE TREATED NETS ON MALARIA INCIDENCE – THE CASE OFNORTH DAYI DISTRICT

ABSTRACT One disease that has ravaged the tropical environment for centuries and claimed  many  lives  is  malaria.  Malaria  has  been  with  man  since prehistoric times  (WHO,  2004).  It  is  the  main  cause  of  morbidity  and  mortality  in  the North  Dayi  district  of  Ghana.   The  study  relied  only  on  existing  data  on morbidity for malaria from the district health directorate information unit. Data available  from  the  Kpando  DHMT  had  shown  that  malaria  consistently  had topped all diseases from 2000 to date. The study was aimed at assessing the impact of the distributionof ITNs in  the  North  Dayi  district.  Research  objectives  were  to  analyzeincidence among  children  under-five  and  women  in  reproductive  age.  It  also  aimed  to assess the relationship between ITNs and malaria morbidity. The  result  from  the  study indicated  that  despite  the  ITN  distribution, malaria cases reported at the various facilities increased. This finding did not conform to other studies which suggested that ITNs could reduce the incidence of malaria within the first six months. This is a worrying outcome and could be as a result of the relaxation in education of the other preventive measures that were in place prior to the introduction of the ITNs. To reverse this worrying situation, it is recommended that sensitization of  the  other  preventive  measures  should  be  employed  to  prevent Anopheles mosquitoes  from  biting  in  the  night.  It  was  also  evident  that  the  quantity  of ITNs distributed was not adequate and must be deployed on a mass scale.