Assessment of knowledge about malaria and LLIN ownership and its use in Bankura, West Bengal, India

Background & objectives: Community participation is one of the key factors for implementation and success of a public health programme which depends upon knowledge about that disease. Therefore, understanding the community knowledge about malaria is important for designing sustainable control programmes. This study was conducted to assess the knowledge about malaria, to evaluate long lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) distribution and their use by LQAS method in endemic areas of Bankura district, West Bengal state, India Methods: It was a community based cross-sectional survey conducted in Bankura during December 2019-March 2020. Structured questionnaire under four categories: socio-demographic variables, knowledge of malaria, owner ship of LLINs and its use were used for the interview. Ownership of LLINs and its use were analysed by LQAS method. Data were analysed by binary logistic regression model and chi-squared test. Results: Out of 456 respondents, 88.59% had good knowledge, 97.37% had good ownership of LLIN and 78.95% used LLINs properly. The knowledge about malaria was significantly associated with education level (p-value<0.0001). Out of 24 lots studied, 3, 2, 4 lots were underperforming with respect to knowledge, ownership of LLIN and its use, respectively. Interpretation & conclusion: The study population had a good knowledge about malaria. In spite of good coverage of LLIN distribution, the use of LLINs was not up to the mark. LQAS analysis showed underperformance in few lots about knowledge, ownership of LLIN and its use. The IEC and BCC activities about LLIN should be done to achieve the impact of this intervention at the community level.