On Sunday, August 7, 2022, households in Anambra State began receiving free insecticide-treated nets as one of the state government’s efforts at drastically reducing and eradicating malaria from the state. The exercise will last till Wednesday August 17, 2022. With over three-point-eight million of these nets to be made available to Ndi Anambra, it is targeted that by the end of the exercise, every two persons in the state will have at least one bed net to sleep in.
To say that this move being carried out by the Anambra State Government with the support from GiveWell open philanthropic funding, Nigeria Malaria Elimination Programme, and Malaria Consortium is commendable and timely would be stating the obvious. With the last free distribution of nets carried out in 2014, about eight years ago, the exercise is long overdue considering that Nigeria is one of the leading countries with high prevalence rates of malaria cases and malaria related deaths. In fact, statistics puts it that in every four persons who are diagnosed with Malaria in West Africa, two of them are from Nigeria. Also, in every five persons who die of malaria-related deaths globally, at least one of them must be from Nigeria. This statistics can also be pictured in the fact that an average Nigerian treats malaria at any instance of fever, most times without consulting a doctor, underscoring its high awareness among the people.
Notwithstanding this high consciousness about the disease, most people take it for granted. They prefer to treat it than prevent. For some, since they can self-medicate and treat its symptoms, then they are safe from the devastating punch of the disease. The wrong belief that malaria does not lead to death further exacerbates the poor attitude to prevention of its spread. Contrarily to this wrong belief, Malaria Consortium, an international non-governmental organization that has been greatly involved in the eradication of the disease in Asia and Africa especially, puts the figure of malaria related deaths in Nigeria to nine persons every hour. A statistics backed by the World Health Organization.
If malaria kills with such potency, it highlights the very need to prevent the disease than to treat it. As such, sleeping in insecticide-treated nets remains the only assured way to stay safe from the bites of female anopheles mosquito, the main carrier of the plasmodium that transmits malaria. Insecticide-treated nets bar, kill and repel the mosquito thereby protecting the person who sleeps inside it. Also, considering that the female anopheles mosquito which carries the malaria plasmodium has been found to be mostly active at night, sleeping under the net guarantees more safety against the tropical disease.
According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States government, to achieve such a high community coverage where everyone is protected from the effects of malaria, then more than half of the people in a community must use long lasting insecticide-treated nets.
To achieve effectiveness, this is how to use the net. When you receive the insecticide-treated nets from the distributors sent by the state government, open it and air it under a shade for twenty-four hours before use. Then, hang it over your sleeping material such as mat, mattress or bed. Tuck in the edges of the nets under your sleeping material in such a way that there would be no space for mosquitoes to enter inside it and bite you while you are sleeping. Repeat this after you have left your sleeping area. This way, you can lie inside the nets and enjoy your sleep free from mosquito bites. Do not use the net as cover cloth or wrapper while sleeping. Roll up the net in the morning to prevent it from tearing or damage.
Remember, sleeping under the insecticide-treated nets provided free of charge is better and cheaper than treating malaria.
Written by DAVID OKPOKWASILI
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