KINET: a social marketing programme of treated nets and net treatment for malaria control in Tanzania, with evaluation of child health and long-term survival

We present a large-scale social marketing programme of insecticide-treated nets in 2 rural districts in southwestern Tanzania (population 350 000) and describe how the long-term child health and survival impact will be assess ed. Formative and market research were conducted in order to understand com munity perceptions, knowledge, attitudes and practice with respect to the p roducts to be socially marketed. We identified Zuia Mbu (Kiswahili for 'pre vent mosquitoes') as a suitable brand name for both treated nets and single -dose insecticide treatment sachets. A mix of public and private sales outl ets is used for distribution. In the first stage of a stepped introduction 31 net agents were appointed and trained in 18 villages: 15 were shop owner s, 14 were village leaders, 1 was a parish priest and 1 a health worker. Fo r net treatment 37 young people were appointed in the same villages and tra ined as agents. Further institutions in both districts such as hospitals, d evelopment projects and employers were also involved in distribution. Promo tion for both products was intense and used a variety of channels. A total of 22 410 nets and 8072 treatments were sold during the first year: 18 mont hs after launching, 46% of 312 families with children aged under 5 years re ported that their children were sleeping under treated nets. A strong evalu ation component in over 50 000 people allows assessment of the long-term ef fects of insecticide-treated nets on child health and survival, anaemia in pregnancy, and the costs of the intervention. This evaluation is based on c ross-sectional surveys, and case-control and cohort studies.