Table 5 Summary of favourable and unfavourable characteristics of durable wall lining materials identified during focus group discussions and in-depth interviews in Nigeria

Resembles traditional Nigerian house mat (‘Hausa’)

It looks patterned

It will be easy to imitate

‘When you get to my house now, my children have torn the one at home.’ Female 18–29 years, urban Kano.

‘It looks like a Hausa mat.’ Male 18–29 years, rural Lagos.

Also resembles traditional Yoruba clothes (‘Aso oke’)

Large mesh size increases air ventilation

Children can easily damage it

‘Personally I have no comment on this one because definitely I can’t use this one. It is meant for the mud houses.’ IDI (Doctor), urban Lagos.

Is more suitable for rural households

Resembles cement packing sack (‘bagco super sack’)

Could be mistaken for wall paper, if closely attached to the wall

It is too plain

‘Yes, it looks more like wall paper.’ Female 18–29 years, urban Kano.

‘It looks like a bagco bag.’ Male 30+, rural Lagos.

Is also similar to sacks used for spreading grain

It is well knitted

It is too thick and may trap heat indoors

‘It is too plain, pictures or artwork or painting should come on it.’ IDI (Doctor), urban Lagos.

‘This one does not have any space therefore it will cause more heat.’ Male 30+, rural Lagos.

‘The sacky nature, it is too thick.’ Female 18–29 years, urban Kano.

Resembles common window nets

It is manufactured in different colours

It may not attach easily to the wall

‘Different colours so that you can choose the one you want.’ Female 18–29 years, urban Enugu.

‘The other one doesn’t have spaces, this one has spaces.’ Male 18–29 years, rural Lagos.

Large mesh size increases air ventilation

It is considered unusual to hang nets on walls and may invite unwanted attention

‘Because the net is not supposed to be on the wall.’ Male 30+, urban Lagos.

‘Having it on my wall is impossible. I won’t like it.’ Pregnant female, rural Lagos.

Light-weight fabric appears transparent

It will be difficult to distinguish the insecticide-treated wall netting from the already existing untreated window nets

‘This looks like a mosquito net, this is fine but is this for the wall too?’ IDI (Doctor), urban Kano.

‘Ventilation matters a lot.’ Male 30+, urban Lagos.