Background. In order to combat the burden of malaria, different strategies, including Insecticide Treated Nets
(ITNs), have been put in place. ITNs have been distributed with support from international donors and this necessitates an
increase in monitoring and evaluation efforts in order to determine ITN impact as well as prioritise future programmes. The
current standard for estimating impact indicators of ITNs are household surveys. These, however, are expensive and not
conducted frequently. Collecting information from school children has been found to be a cheap and fast means for routine
monitoring and evaluation of malaria control programmes in sub-Saharan Africa. This study was conducted to explore
school children’s report of household ownership and use of ITNs in Oyo State, Nigeria.
Materials and methods. A cross-sectional survey was conducted. A three-stage sampling technique was used to select 611
pupils from 15 out of 88 primary schools. Information on pupils’ socio-demographics, report of household ownership and
use of ITNs were obtained using a semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire. Data was analysed using
descriptive statistics and Chi-square tests at 5% level of significance.
Results. Respondents’ mean age was 10.5±1.7 yrs; 52.7% were females, 84.6% were Yoruba and 65.3% lived with children
below 5 yrs of age in their households. Most of the respondents (81.7%) reported household ownership of at least one ITN.
The majority (76.4%) obtained nets through mass distribution campaigns. Most of the respondents (89%) reported use of
ITNs by a household member the night preceding the survey. More than half of the respondents (51.6%) reported ITN use by
children below 5 yrs of age. Class was significantly associated with reported household ownership of ITNs (χ2
= 9.217, p
<0.010).
Conclusion. The majority of the pupils reported household ownership and use of ITNs. They should be considered a
potential source of information in monitoring and evaluation activities related to ITN ownership and use.