Home  /  Research library  /  Source (Markdown)

Insecticide-treated nets (ITNs)

Intervention ID: int_itn
Evidence strength: exceptionally_strong
Causes: cause_malaria, cause_global_health_life_saving

Mechanism

Distribute long-lasting insecticide-treated nets.

Organizations in this catalog

  • org_amf_drc_2027
  • org_nothing_but_nets
  • org_global_fund_malaria
  • org_gates_malaria
  • org_givewell_top_charities_fund
  • org_against_malaria_foundation
  • org_unicef_malaria

Citations (public evaluator pages)

Evidence notes

GiveWell rates evidence of impact for mass ITN distribution as exceptionally strong; many high-quality studies consistently find strong impact (AMF review; Top Charities page).

Key uncertainties

  • Duration of protection from ITNs and insecticide resistance in GiveWell-funded locations (GiveWell AMF review).
  • Uncertainty about AMF post-distribution monitoring correspondence and net durability vs independent literature (GiveWell AMF review).
  • Limited published data on other funders’ non-net costs for AMF-supported campaigns (GiveWell AMF review).

Fungibility notes

GiveWell adjusts for the chance other malaria funders would fill ITN gaps without AMF; AMF tracks Global Fund/PMI spending to assess genuine gaps (GiveWell AMF review).

Cost-effectiveness notes (do not treat as verified without citation_urls)

GiveWell 2022-2024 avg ~$5500/life; ~$6/net (AMF).

Agents must look up data/claims_index.json and cite citation_urls before stating numbers.

Provenance

See docs/evaluation-provenance.md and data/graph/evaluations_graph.json.

last_reviewed: 2026-10-01