THE Ministry of Health said yesterday that free distribution of Insecticide Treated mosquito Nets (ITNs), in Unguja and Pemba will be conducted starting the end this month.
At press conference held here, Mr Mwinyi Issa Khamis from the Zanzibar Malaria Elimination Program (ZAMEP), encouraged the public to exercise maximum cooperation with the government in the efforts to eliminate malaria by 2017.
He said although Zanzibar has managed to keep prevalence at below one-per-cent, there are still reported cases every month, and the deadly disease can be defeated if the public co-operates and supports the government’s efforts to fight malaria.
“This has been a continuous successful program. We thank the development partners for their support. Our plan is to distribute 780,000 ITNs by end of July this year,” Mr Khamis said.In this net distribution campaign the government is giving out one net per two people. “Sleeping under treated mosquito nets is one of the best ways of controlling malaria cases as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), so I encourage people who registered to get the nets and make sure they use them,” he emphasized.
Mr Khamis said while the distribution coverage is above 82 per cent, the study on ‘Knowledge- Attitude- Practice and Behaviour (KAPB) conducted in 2014 indicated that the use of nets was only 60 per cent.
“Bed nets use is one of the safest methods of preventing and controlling malaria,” he said. He urged the media to help inform the public about using the nets as well as accepting their houses to be fumigated during the ‘Indoor Residual Spray (IRS) which started last Tuesday and which is expected to go on for 14-16 days in hot spot areas.
“We must keep our surroundings clean, go for proper diagnosis and use medicines (Amodiaquine) approved by the Ministry of Health. Travellers must also take extra health precautions so that we can win the war against malaria in the near future,” Mr Khamis said. Zanzibar has been recording success in its campaign against malaria since 2001.
The success is attributed to multiple interventions including use of nets, proper diagnosis, indoor spray, increased awareness among the population, and support from development partners.
/Daily News.
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