World Vision Malawi distributes 8.2 million mosquito nets
In its first phase in the campaign to fight malaria, World Vision Malawi has distributed 8.2 million mosquito nets in the distribution of long lasting insecticidal nets (LLIN) in the country’s 28 districts.
World Vision’s chief of party Alexander Chikonga says the exercise was successful and is now rolling out into its last phase.
The distribution exercise is being coordinated by National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) in conjunction with its cooperating partners, World Vision and National Taskforce.
NMCP manager Dr Michael Kayange, confirmed that World Vision has distributed 8.2 million nets and that 10.9 million mosquito nets had been procured to be given to 4.2 million Malawian households that were registered as recipients.
The distribution is currently in the last phase which covers districts in the Central Region.
At a joint press conference held on recently in Lilongwe with Word Vision’s Chikonga and National Taskforce chairperson Happy Kondowe, Dr Kayange said the only daunting task is to ensure that Malawians properly use the nets.
“We did enough community sensitisation and mobilization before the distribution of the mosquito nets to make sure that the exercise achieved its purpose,” he said.
Malaria remains one of the main killer diseases in sub-Saharan Africa with Malawi registering 10 malaria-related deaths every day and six million cases of the disease every year.
The prevalence rate for malaria in Malawi’s rural areas is as high as 30 percent while in urban centres it is at 4 percent.
Kayange observed that these figures mean that almost the entire Malawian population is affected by malaria, a situation he feared is negatively affecting the country’s social-economic development.
“We still have a duty as cooperating partners to sensitize people on the need to use these nets properly so that we are seen to be really controlling the spread of malaria,” he emphasized.
The maximum number of nets a family can get in the ongoing distribution exercise is four, no matter how large and according to Kayange, two members of a household are supposed to share one net.
At Nkhanenya in Kasungu, most of the women who gathered at Nkhamenya Parish Mission on Wednesday, received at least two nets each.
One of the recipients, Aida Banda from Eluweni Village, said: “One net is for me and my husband while the other one is for our two little children.”
Group Village Headman Mwalimo expressed his happiness over the large turn out of his subjects to collect the nets, saying his subjects adhered to his earlier communication to them how important it was to go and receive the nets and use them properly in order to prevent malaria.
Sara Mwale, a senior health surveillance assistant at Nkhamenya Parish Mission Hospital, who was the site supervisor for the mass distribution campaign for the 11 villages under Group Village Headman Mwalimo, said exercise was successful in her area.
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