Insecticide treated nets: Impact on health and productivity, and determining willingness to pay

Principal Researchers: Profs. Brian Blackburn and Aprajit Mahajan (Stanford), and Prof. Alessandro Tarozzi (Duke)
Partner Organization: Bharat Integrated Social Welfare Agency (BISWA), Orissa

Several international bodies advocate the use of insecticide treated nets (ITNs) for the prevention of malaria, and multiple studies show ITNs significantly reduce malaria-related morbidity and mortality. However, despite numerous efforts by various advocacy groups and governments, the adoption rate of ITNs in many malaria-endemic areas remains low. Reasons for the poor usage of ITNs include logistical difficulties, social acceptance, and cost.

This project is being implemented in collaboration with BISWA, an NGO-MFI based in the malaria-endemic state of Orissa. The primary goal of the project is to test several different financial approaches to ITN provision. The second goal is to quantify the impact of these nets on not only health outcomes, but also on crucial socio-economic indicators such as adult economic activity and the schooling of children. Understanding which benefits stem from ITN adoption will help quantify the direct and indirect impact of nets, and will be a first steps towards understanding the low adoption rates we see today. Current evidence indicates that individuals respond in seemingly counter-intuitive ways to health-improving interventions. For instance, some studies note a steady drop-off in ITN re-treatment over time, considerably accelerated when re-treatment is not provided free. The third goal of this study is to understand the causes of such behavior in order to design delivery mechanisms that mitigate these problems.

As with other microfinance "plus" projects, the Centre strives to identify interventions which are complementary to microfinance and can have a strong impact on household income and wealth. If these complementary interventions, such as ITNs, prove beneficial, the goal would be to scale these interventions by effectively marketing them and providing households with microfinance to purchase these products.

CMF Research Associate: Dan Kopf

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See other related articles on this subject:
Fighting Malaria with Microfinance: BISWA Case Study (October 2008)
Impact Study of Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs) (Eye on Microfinance, Issue 1)