With the exception of the South Region, hospitals and health centres in the different divisions and sub divisions have already received treated mosquito bed nets.The distribution of treated mosquito bed nets is on ahead of the nationwide campaign against malaria. The campaign for the distribution of mosquitoes nets will be the biggest ever in the country. The treated bed nets will help protect hundreds of thousands of families from malaria, the leading cause of death in
Cameroon. Over 8 million treated mosquito nets are due distribution by end of the month.
Ahead of this import event, officials of the Ministry of Public Health are living no stone unturned to ensure a hitch free distribution. The distribution is headed by governors of the ten regions of the country. Teams of medical experts and security officers are equally involved in the distribution to ensure wide coverage of the national territory. It is estimated that some 4.5 million households would be covered, representing 19 million people.
Mme Olinga of the Roll Back Malaria Unit in the Ministry of Public Health said distribution is going on smoothly in the country. Presently, the mosquito bed nets have been received in nine regions of the country. The only region which has not yet received the nets is the South Region. Sources at the Ministry of Public Health say immediately after arrival in the nine regions, the mosquito bed nets are dispatched to the different hospitals and health centres in the divisions and sub divisions. In the Centre Region, the treated bed nets were received by the Minister of Public Health, André Mama Fouda at a site specially designed for the treated bed nets in Nkolfoulou, some 15 kilometres from Yaounde on the road to Soa in the Mefou and Afamba Division. A total of 1,672,641 bed nets were received in the Centre Region.
The mosquito nets, treated with insecticides which keep mosquitoes at bay, have been purchased with resources from the Global Fund for the Fight against HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria. They each have a five-year lifespan and will be distributed free over a period of two weeks. The massive distribution follows another widely-applauded government decision to make the treatment of simple malaria in children below five years free. The decision took effect last 1 February, and adds to cuts in the cost of ACTs as well as free treatment for pregnant women.