Ethical considerations
malaria
MALARIA
The study was approved by the Ethics Review Committees of Ministry of Health Benin (Ethical decision n°29 of 13 August 2020) and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (Ref: 22453 of 18 August 2020) and all methods were performed in accordance with the relevant guidelines and regulations. Prior to any project activities, village and hamlet leaders were invited to sensitization sessions conducted by district health officers and written informed consent was sought from the local leader before starting data collection. Heads of households involved in the study gave informed consent prior to their participation in the study. The consent form was written in French and indicated the purpose of the study, the procedures, risks, and benefits. Participants were informed that participation was completely voluntary, and that they could withdraw from participation at any time. Where necessary, the consent form was explained to them in their local language by a trained interpreter. Participants were asked to sign the consent form in duplicate, one copy was kept by the project, and they retained the other copy. Where the individual was unable to read or write, their fingerprint was taken, and a signature was obtained from a witness to the informed consent procedure.Informed consent was also obtained from volunteer mosquito collectors for HLCs. Only male individuals aged between 18 and 40 years old and who were members of the local community were recruited and trained as mosquito collectors. Collectors were free to withdraw from the trial at any time. As mosquito collectors were residents and had regularly been exposed to biting and malaria, they were not offered chemoprophylaxis. However, they were regularly examined by a study physician for clinical signs of malaria while participating in the study and referred to the nearest local health centre for free treatment if diagnosed positive for malaria. Mosquito collectors also had free access to malaria diagnosis and treatment up to 4 weeks after the end of the study. A study physician at the local public health facility was available to administer all medical care under the project. Spray operators were males, at least 18 years old, physically fit, and healthy, had no obvious disabilities that would limit their mobility and were literate enough to read and write French to be able to follow all insecticide handling procedures safely.