Mosquito nets reduce child deaths in Kenya

A new study has confirmed that bed nets treated with insecticide are lifesaving for children living in sub-Saharan Africa. It showed that a Kenyan national programme to increase coverage between 2004 and 2006 was accompanied by a 44% reduction in deaths in young children who slept under a net, compared with those who didn't (adjusted rate ratio 0.56, 95% CI 0.33 to 0.96).

The analysis was confined to children aged under 5, the group most likely to die from malaria. In 2004, only 7% of these children had a bed net. The proportion increased to 67% by 2006 thanks to a combination of strategies, including subsidising the sale of nets on the high street, offering more heavily subsidised nets to pregnant women at clinics, and giving nets away free to all young children. The authors estimate that on average every 1000 bed nets save seven lives. The benefits are likely to be greatest for children living in areas where transmission of malaria is high.

Bed nets treated with insecticide are clearly an effective way to protect children from potentially lethal malarial mosquitoes, say the authors, and donors who pay for them should consider their money well spent.