The Ghana Health Service and its donor partners in the northern region are embarking on a mass distribution of the Long- Lasting Insecticidal Net (LLIN) campaign to prevent malaria especially in the rainy season.
Under the distribution exercise, volunteers have been trained to educate various households on the need to sleep under Long Lasting nets to prevent people from contracting malaria.
In the Tamale metropolis, a total of 145 000 nets have been received which will translate into about 80 percent of coverage of LLIN in the metropolis. According to the northern regional health directorate, about 1.3 million treated nets are expected to be distributed to every household in the region.
At a media briefing in Tamale, the Prorgamme Officer of the National Malaria Control Porgramme in the northern region, Dr Felicia Anoo-Sakyi fears of volunteer’s inability to cover every household saying a team of monitors have been trained from district, regional and national levels to ensure that every household receives the treated mosquito nets.
The exercise was on the theme; “The Media as Partners in Malaria Prevention”. Under the exercise volunteers are expected to visit every household more than once to ensure that the universal coverage of two persons in one net are achieved in the region.
The Deputy Chief Entomologist in the northern region, Gilbert Derry said the registration exercise in the Tamale metropolis is not up to expectation and urged residents to ensure that they are registered.
According to him malaria is not a health issue in the northern region but a developmental issue because RCC is being actively involved to ensure that various MMDAs facilitate the distribution exercise.
Mr. Derry warned that, the nets are not for sale and anybody found selling it will face the full rigors of the law. He added that it is being donated by donor partners purposely for distribution to the indigenes free.
He however hinted that there will be a Mop-up registration during the hang-up and the distribution exercise.
The GHS is putting in place monitoring mechanisms to ensure that volunteers distribute and hang it without any cost. Residents have also been urged to demand from volunteers in their various communities to be registered and provided with the nets.
The distribution exercise will start on 25 of July in the Tamale metropolis and are expected commence in all other districts in the northern region by 30 July 2012.
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