NMCP NOT HAPPY WITH NON-USE OF TREATED MOSQUITO NETS (PAGE 23, SEPTEMBER 23, 2010)

THE National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) has expressed worry over the failure of many Ghanaians to use Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs) although they have been provided with the nets.
According to a medical entomologist at the NMCP, Mrs Aba Baffoe-Wilmot, only thirty per cent of Ghanaian households that have been provided with Insecticide Treated Nets (ITN) sleep under these nets and this is impeding efforts to combat malaria in the country.
“It is of no use to provide ITNs to families, particularly children and pregnant women, only for the nets to end up being packed among clothing, instead of being hanged and used,” she lamented.
Mrs Baffoe-Wilmot was speaking during a visit by a team of personnel from the NMCP and its partners to the factory of the Integrated Tamale Fruit Company (ITFC) in Gushie in the Savelugu/Nanton district.
The visit was to enable the team to brief the management and staffs of the ITFC on the current status of malaria control in the country and avail the company to various options through which it could support the programme.
Mrs Baffoe-Wilmot mentioned that due to the support of donor partners, the NMCP had achieved a 56 per cent household ownership of ITNs, “but only 30 per cent usage.”
She said it was regrettable that people cited flimsy excuses for failing to use the nets and asked: “How do you expect me to accept the reason that due to heat, people sleep outside the nets and allow themselves to be beaten by mosquitoes, which exposes them to malaria.”
“If I were them, I would sleep naked in the net so as to keep me cooler and protected at the same time,” she added.
Mrs Baffoe-Wilmot said following the successful distribution of ITNs to children at risk and pregnant women, the NMCP had decided to expand its distribution programme.
“We are now preparing to begin distribution of the nets to the larger Ghanaian community towards achieving the universal coverage of two persons to one net,” she stated.
She said the new distribution scheme was scheduled to start in the Eastern Region later in the year.
“We first need to undertake a pre-registration exercise to know the number of prospective beneficiaries,” she mentioned.
The medical entomologist cautioned against any relapse in the fight against malaria since the disease still accounted for over 30 per cent of reported cases at the Outside Patients Department (O.P.D.).
“We record about three million cases of malaria each year and it costs the nation dearly to treat these cases, some of which end up in deaths,” she stated.
She said Ghanaians must be entreated to report early for medical attention when they see signs of the disease, because early treatment could lessen the severity of the disease and avoid needless deaths.
“We also need to educate our people on how to handle the nets, because mishandling them could reduce their efficacy or render them ineffective,” she further stated.