eHealth Africa (eHA), with support from the Against Malaria Foundation (AMF), has commenced baseline Post-Distribution Monitoring (PDM-0) to assess the availability and use of approximately 4.8 million insecticide-treated mosquito nets distributed across Bauchi State.
The exercise is designed to determine whether the mosquito nets have reached intended households and are being used by families to prevent malaria.
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The monitoring exercise will cover 9,000 households across 500 communities in 20 Local Government Areas, with more than 100 trained data collectors and supervisors deployed for the assignment.
According to eHealth Africa, the PDM-0 approach provides early insights within two to four weeks of distribution, unlike conventional monitoring exercises conducted several months later.
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The exercise will assess whether households received the expected number of nets, whether families are using them and what challenges may be preventing effective utilisation.
To ensure reliable findings, field teams have undergone training in digital data collection, household verification, quality assurance, informed consent and data confidentiality.
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The findings are expected to help the Against Malaria Foundation and relevant Bauchi State stakeholders identify distribution gaps, strengthen accountability and improve the implementation of future malaria prevention interventions.
eHealth Africa noted that the impact of public health interventions should be measured not only by the number of items distributed but also by their reach, utilisation and contribution to protecting lives.