Malaria is a global health problem that has a nega tive influence on the supply andrnprodu ctivity of labour. apart from its mortality and morbidity consequences, its burden on thernsociety measured in economic terms is significan t. one of the objectives of this study was tornidentify the economic cost of Malaria on rural households using the cost of illness approach.rnPrimary data was collected through struc tured questionnaire from randomly selected kebeles in IlurnWoreda of West Shoa Zone. It was lea rned from the survey result that treatment cost was by farrnhigher than prevention cost. this indicated [he need for health education and communityrnmobilization so as to enhance malaria prevention and control ac tiviti es. In an endeavor torncontrol malaria , emphasis should be given to protect individuals against infective mosquito bites.rnSince the use of insecticide impregnated bednet is one of these protective measures available tornhouseholds, the second objective of the survey was directed towards estimating householdsrnwillingness to pay for it. The mean willingness to pay was found to be birr 44.26the surveyrnresult further indicated that the willingness to pay decision was influenced by householdsrncharacteri stics and burden of malaria on households. Income has been found to be the most important factol' in determining the willingness to pay decision. the implication is that thernex tremely low income of the society limits the use of insecticide impregnated bed net, which callsrnfor a support scheme in order to reduce the burden ot'nialaria on ruraJ'househoidi . . .