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3 million Long Lasting Insecticide Nets To Be Distributed Free In Ondo

Published

7 years ago

September 25, 2017

By Niyi Olutunde, Akure

Following the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendation in the use of Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLINs) in order to prevent malaria, a total of 2,930,500 nets will be distributed free to families across all the 18 Local Government Area of Ondo State.

The nets distribution exercise, one of the commonest preventable public health problems in the country which will start between October 28 and 2^nd November 2017 in Ondo would last for three years if used properly.

Already, a campaign team of health workers drawn from the Federal Ministry of Health, Ondo state ministry of health and the Catholic Relief Services have arrived the state to kick off with household mobilization from October 7 to 15, 2017.

According to Mrs. Nneka Ndubuisi from the Catholic Relief Services, Malaria which is the most common preventable health problem takes a lethal toll of 97% of Nigerians especially children under five years of age and pregnant women.

According to her, apart from the huge social and economic burden to our communities and country, billions of naira is lost to malaria annually in form of treatment, prevention and loss of man hours.

She stressed that WHO has said that the best way for scaling-up malaria prevention is the use of the LLINs.

During the campaign period, she said household mobilizers will visit each household, register them and issue net cards adding that a net will be given to two persons and maximum of four nets to a household.

The team solicited the support of the media for a successful outing saying although malaria is one of the leading public health rroblems; it gets under reported in the media.

They also called on community leaders in the state as well as members of the public to assist and support the campaign to save lives of the people.

However, they listed some of the benefits of sleeping inside the nets as prevention from mosquito bites and spread of malaria, sound and undisturbed sleep and saving of lives, money and stress.