FIVE YEAR MALARIA TREND ANALYSIS AND ASSESSMENT OF OWNERSHIP, COVERAGE AND USE OF LONG LASTING INSECTICIDE TREATED NET (LLITNS) IN LALO KILE DISTRICT, WESTERN ETHIOPIA.

Major advisor: Mebrate Dufera (PhD) ABSTRACT Malaria is the most common infectious disease of humans which is enormous public health problem indifferent parts the world including Ethiopia . Plasmodium falciparum and plasmodium vivax are the two malaria species that cause serious diseases in Lalo Kile district. This study was conducted in Lalo Kile district to assess the five year (2018-2022) Malaria trends in the selected health centers. Secondary data of five year malaria trend document from selected health center and primary data using Questionnaire was used as data collection tools. So, the general objective of the study was to analyze the five year trends of malaria prevalence and assessing the ownership, coverage and use of long lasting insecticide treated net at Lalo kile districts. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS version 20 and the analyzed data was presented using descriptive statistic such as frequency and percentage. Total number of people those visited at the district"s health center for past five years were 45182 peoples. (21793(48% was male and 23389(52%) was female. Among those 13542(n=6631), 49%) and (n=6911), 51%) were male and female respectively. Among this children from 0-15age was(3485)26% , age between 16-30 ,(4890)36% and the age 30 was (5167) 38% was recorded in the study district for past five years. The trend analysis of Plasmodium species over the course of the five years showed a fluctuating trend for both species. P. falciparum malaria reached its peak in 2022/23 accounting for 68.72%. Data obtained from sample population of 384, According to the respondents 362(94.3%) have long lasting insecticide treated nets. and 21 them (5.5%) have no LLITNs. Even if the government supplied LLITNs in the study area at least one/two round in the study area, it can"t reduce the malaria prevalence in the districts. since the malaria was one the major health problem and life threating in the study area. The other problem observed by the researcher in the study area was the community not purposely use long lasting insecticide treated nets properly. Thus, the current study is supporting evidence for the fact that the inclining pattern of malaria prevalence in one of malaria endemic areas Ethiopia. So, Awareness should be given to the local community on the expansion and treatment methods of malaria as well as the use of LLITNs. Key words: parasites, Plasmodium, Retrospective data, prevalence, long-lasting insecticidal net