The permanent secretary ministry of health Dr. Diana Atwine has expressed concerns over the continued misuse of treated mosquito nets which were distributed to them by the government.
Atwine who was addressing the media today in Kampala on the distribution of nets in Kampala and Wakiso confirmed witnessing massive misuse of the nets by people in Luwero.
She stated that the residents are now using the nets to harvest aunts, something she says is unfortunate and downplays the government’s efforts to fight malaria.
At the start of the distribution campaign last year, the government revealed that it will be working with local governments to ensure that the nets are not misused and this was to be enforced by having local govts passing by-laws to guide on the use and punish people who put the nets to wrong use.
The exercise has been successful in 122 districts across the country with over 10 million people awarded nets.
The third universal treated mosquito net distribution campaign dubbed “Under the Net” will see the distribution of 27.5 million long life treated mosquito nets throughout the country.
Uganda has made significant improvement in the fight against malaria in the last decade. Malaria prevalence has reduced significantly from 42% in 2009 to 19% in 2014 and now to 9.2% according to the malaria indicator survey 2018/19.
