Malaria remains a major health problem in Africa. One preventative strategy currently advocated is the use
of bednets, preferably treated with insecticide. Many approaches to bednet delivery have been adopted in
Kenya, including an employer-based malaria control strategy (EBMC). The cost and sustainability of this
approach have not previously been assessed. This paper presents the financial cost (cash expenditure) of
the EBMC programme implemented in the Coastal and Western regions of Kenya by the African Medical and
Research Foundation (AMREF) between April 1998 and February 2002. Getting a bednet and insecticide to
an employee was estimated to cost the provider US$15.8. This could be reduced by US$0.5 if the remaining
stocks were liquidated and by an additional US$1.3 if the salvage of capital items is considered. The venture
of distributing bednets to employees through the programme proved lucrative to organized community
groups (OCGs), for they made between 24 and 29% gross profit from the nets they sold. Consequently, OCGs
in nine of the 13 companies involved had retained enough funds from which they could buy and sell bednets
without further donor financial support, and this portrays some elements of a sustainable supply system.