AbiaTo Distribute 1.2m Mosquito Treated Nets

The Ministry of Health in Abia is set to begin distribution of the 1.2 million Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLINs) it received in 2010, a senior ministry official, has said.

The Director of Public Health/Disease Control, Mr Franklin Orji,  made this known in Umuahia on Monday while interacting with newsmen on the ministry’s strategy for a successful state malaria-control programme.

Orji said the state got 1.2 million nets, based on its 2006 national census figure of 2.6 million people, pointing out that each household would get two nets.

He attributed the delay in distribution of the nets to logistics, saying: “this is not something you distribute without following the laid down rules.

“There are some prerequisite and logistics preparations that must be made before the nets are distributed,’’ Orji said, adding that “funding is also required.’’

He said that training of personnel for the exercise at the state, local government and ward levels had been conducted.

He said 5,000 people had been mobilised for simultaneous distribution of the nets in all the wards in the 17 local government areas of the state.

Orji said the ministry distributed 20,000 LLINs to pregnant women and children under five years in Isuikwuato Local Government Area in 2009 under a pilot scheme.

He said Abia and Imo were the states where the distribution of nets had yet to commence in the South East zone.

A consultant to the Federal Ministry of Health on National Malaria-Control Programme, Mrs Adaeze Aidinagbon, said the free distribution of the nets by the Federal Government would help to inculcate the culture of using nets in the citizenry.

Aidinagbon explained that after the three-to-five year life span of the free nets, households would be required to purchase a replacement at subsidised rates from designated outlets.

He solicited the assistance of the media to create the necessary public awareness for the programme.