By Caleb Kuleke
Ho, April 9, GNA- Dr Chrysantus Kubio, Volta Regional Director of Health Services, has announced that more than 1.2 million long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets would be distributed in the Region as part of this year’s Point Mass Distribution (PMD) campaign.
The Ghana Health Service and its partners have scheduled the public distribution of long-lasting insecticide nets slated for April 11–15, 2024, following a successful registration of households between February 29 and March 4, 2024,
Dr Kubio, during a stakeholder engagement and media launch of the campaign in Ho, mentioned that the five-day exercise would cover a total of 466, 857 registered households, with a population of over two million in the region.
He said the long-lasting insecticide-treated nets distribution campaign, or the PMD campaign was one of the malaria preventive strategies of the national malaria elimination programme.
The Director said this year’s campaign was in three phases-pre-campaign, campaign, and post-campaign and the universal coverage approach, which stated one net for two persons with focus on households would be used.
He said the exercise would be carried out in all the 18 administrative districts and municipalities and would serve as a replacement for the bed nets that were distributed between November and December 2021 in the region due to the 3-year effective cycle.
“As part of this year’s campaign, a new variable “households refused to be registered” has been introduced and a total of 3,563 households have refused to be registered across the region for various reasons.”
Dr Kubio said the net could be used even after the 3–year chemical life span and 20 washes because the net continued to provide physical protection to users until they acquire a new one.
The Director said some of the nets to be distributed had dual chemical protection against insecticide resistance in some parts of the country.
He said the use of insecticide-treated bed nets was a cost-effective approach to reducing new cases and deaths due to malaria and it had been established that about 30 per cent of under-five deaths were prevented using the treated bed nets.
Togbega Gabusu VII, Paramount Chief of Gbi Traditional Area, who chaired the meeting, said the importance of the fight against malaria could not be overstated.
He said the Volta Region House of Chiefs recognised the contributions of the distribution campaign in addressing the concerns as malaria remained a major public health concern.
Togbega Gabusu urged everyone to cooperate to overcome obstacles and guarantee that every home in the Region had access to these life-saving bed nets.
The Paramount Chief asked all stakeholders to use their networks, resources, and experience to ensure that the bed nets were distributed effectively and fairly to the various communities.
“Reaching vulnerable groups should be our first concern because they are more at risk of serious malarial consequences, such as expectant mothers and little ones,” he added.
Mr Roland Glover, the Regional Malaria Focal Person, said the region was performing well in terms of malaria cases, as it was the third lowest with 6.4 cases, after Western Region’s 4.4 and Greater Accra’s 2.0.
He explained that the PMD was a redesigned campaign by the Ghana Health Service and its partners to employ the universal coverage principles to bring long-lasting insecticide nets into households.
Mr Glover called for support from all stakeholders, including religious and traditional leaders and the media to secure successful distribution of the nets.
GNA