Kapiri residents under-utilize ITNs

Government has expressed concern at the low utilization levels of Insect Treated Nets (ITNs) by households in the prevention of malaria in Kapiri Mposhi district.

 

District Community Health Officer, Charles Mwinuna, has observed that the district has continued to record high incidences of malaria even after conducting several mass distributions of ITNs.

 

Recently, the District Medical Office distributed over 170,976 ITNs to households in the district.

 

Dr Mwinuna disclosed that the prevalence rate of malaria in the district currently stands at 143 cases per 1000 population due to underutilization of various Anti Malaria interventions being implemented by his office and its cooperating partners.

 

During the 2^nd quarter District Development Coordination Committee (DDCC) meeting, Dr Mwinuna stated that according to a door-to-door survey conducted recently most households in the area were not using the nets for malaria prevention.

 

“We are concerned because most people are not using the ITNs that we distributed to them for malaria prevention. We did a survey from which we discovered that these nets are still being kept in shelves,” Dr Mwinuna said.

 

Dr Mwinuna revealed that malaria still accounted for most disease cases reported for treatment at health centers in the district.

 

However, Dr Mwinuna said his office has intensified the fight against malaria through other interventions that include Indoor Residue Spray (IRS).

 

He advised residents to utilize the treated mosquito nets in order to reduce the malaria disease burden in the district.