Background: The provision of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) is widely accepted in Burkina Faso thanks to large-scale
national distribution campaigns. However, household also use other methods of prevention. Thus far, there is little
knowledge about the expenditures of these malaria prevention methods, particularly in combination with the national
interventions. This paper presents the utilization levels and expenditures of malaria prevention tools in Burkina Faso and
explores the potential inequality in ownership.
Methods: The analysis is based on a cross-sectional survey, conducted during the 2010 high transmission season
from July to September in the Nanoro Health and Demographic Surveillance Site. Following a systematic sampling
technique, the survey covers 500 households with children under 5 years of age from 24 villages.
In the survey, households were asked about expenditures on malaria prevention methods in the month preceding
the survey. This includes expenditure on coils, indoor spraying, aerosols, repellents, herbs, cleaning of the environment
and clearing of the vegetation. The data analysis was conducted with SPSS taking into account the socio-economic
status (SES) of the household to examine any differences in the utilization of the prevention method and expenditure
quintiles. An asset-based index, created through principal components analysis (PCA), was used to categorize the
households into quintiles.
Findings: Of the households surveyed, 45% used one preventive measure in the past month; 29% used two measures;
and 25% used three or more measures. A significant association was found between the number of prevention
measures and the SES of the household (p < 0.05). The majority of households owned at least one insecticide treated
net (ITN) (98%). Among households that used ITN, 53.8% used methods other than bed nets. The majority of
households paid nothing for malaria prevention.
Conclusion: Most of the households received bed nets and other preventive method for free. There is equity in
expenditures across SES groups. Free distribution of ITNs ensured that there was equity in ITN ownership among
households. More research on the possibility of increasing access to other locally relevant methods of malaria control
that proved to be effective is need.