Objectives: To assess long-lasting insecticide - treated bednet (LLITN) ownership, retention and usage one year after their distribution in Loreto, Peru.
Materials and methods: From July to September 2007, 26,185 LLITNs Olyset Net ® were delivered in 194 targeted communities in the Peruvian Amazon region, covering 45,331 people. Two cross-sectional community-based surveys in December 2007 and July 2008 were undertaken in a sample of 60 targeted communities (30.9% out of the total). A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect necessary data to calculate LLITN ownership, retention and usage indicators.
Results: High LLITN household ownership was showed in both surveys (99.9% and 98.7%, respectively). LLITN/ person ratio decreased from 0.58 at the end of the LLITN delivery to 0.51 in the second survey, estimating LLITN retention of 87% after 1 year of intervention. In the first survey, 99.0% of all children <5 years and 96,0% of pregnant women slept under a LLITN the previous night, while in the second survey, 77.7% of children <5 years and 66.3% of pregnant women slept under a LLITN the previous night. Big mesh size of LLITN had low people's acceptability, reaching only 39.0% in the second survey.
Conclusions: Although universal LLITN household ownership remained high, their LLITN usage levels have decreased during one-year follow-up period.