Child coverage with mosquito nets and malaria treatment from population-based surveys in African countries: A baseline for monitoring progress in roll back malaria

We assessed the proportion of febrile children less than five years old with prompt effective antimalarial treatment and the proportion of those less than five years old sleeping under insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) or any mosquito net the preceding night in African malarious countries. Data were reviewed from 23 Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys and 13 Demographic and Health Surveys conducted between 1998 and 2002. A median of 53% of febrile children received antimalarial treatment. A median of 84% of these treatments, however, involved chloroquine, and the proportion of treatments given within two days of onset of symptoms was unknown in most surveys. Median coverages of those less than five years old with any net and ITNs were 15% and 2%, respectively. Use of nets, and especially ITNs, was consistently lower in rural than in urban areas. At the outset of intensified malaria control under Roll Back Malaria, coverage with principal interventions was far below the target of 60% set for Africa in 2005.