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Program Goals and Objectives 205

NetMark’s goal was to try to create a sustainable commercial market for
ITNs with Nigerian companies procuring, packaging, distributing, and market-
ing a variety of ITN brands at competitive prices through ever-expanding sales
networks, thus increasing the availability of ITNs throughout the country. To do
this, the commercial firms needed a ready supply of quality ITNs, retail net-
works that reached a wide swath of the public, and strong consumer demand
that could grow and sustain the market. NetMark and its commercial and com-
munication partners would have to achieve major changes in the knowledge, at-
titudes, and behaviors of the three key target audiences.

1. Families with children under 5 and pregnant women would have to:
• Understand that malaria is solely caused by mosquitoes.
• Understand that ITNs can prevent malaria by repelling or killing
malaria-carrying mosquitoes.
• Understand that pregnant women and children under 5 are most
likely to get life-threatening cases of malaria and, therefore, need to be
protected.
• Believe that ITNs are safe and effective.
• Believe that purchasing an ITN is a good investment.
2. Public sector policy makers would have to:
• Recognize that having the commercial sector invest in the ITN market
would be an important addition to the public health effort to reduce
malaria.
• Believe that a facilitating environment is needed to encourage compa-
nies to invest in the marketing of ITNs (e.g., removing tax and tariffs
on imported ITNs so they can be sold at affordable prices; segment
markets for commercial, subsidized, and free ITNs; open up tender
market to local companies).
• Recognize that programs based on free and subsidized ITNs should be
coordinated with commercial sector activities to prevent undermining
them.
• Prevent leakage of subsidized product into commercial markets.
• Recognize that the public sector does not have the ability to make the
commercial sector successful—but it does have the power to kill it.
3. Distributors/retailers would have to:
• Believe that ITNs could be marketed profitably.
• Invest in procurement, distribution, and marketing of ITNs.
• Expand current distribution and retail networks to reach increasing
numbers of the high-risk population, particularly in peri-urban and
rural areas.