Mass distribution of bednets begins
The National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) of the Ghana Health service (GHS) and its health partners have begun a mass campaign to distribute long lasting insecticide nets (LLINs) free of charge to the public.
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The campaign is being implemented through a point distribution during which volunteers educate beneficiaries on malaria prevention and the importance of sleeping under LLINs every night.
The Communications Officer of the NMCP, Mr Kwame Dzudzorli Gakpey, said the campaign had started in the Eastern and Volta regions and would last for 12 days in each of those regions.
He said the campaign would continue to the other regions from early next year, except the three northern regions which are already benefitting from an Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) programme.
He explained that the three regions were not included in the campaign in line with the new World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines which indicate that two main vector control strategies should not be implemented in a particular geographical area.
Mr Gakpey said all the LLINs being distributed are rectangular in shape, are blue or white in colour and had been branded with the Ghana Health Service (GHS) logo, contact numbers of the programme and a ‘not for sale’ inscription.
Target beneficiaries
The campaign, Mr Gakpey emphasised targets the whole population.
“Using the universal coverage calculation, two persons will receive one LLIN,” he stated.
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He pointed out that the nets for the campaign are ‘strictly not for sale’, adding that each LLIN is torn open before given to the household head or member.
Allocation of LLINs
Mr Gakpey said coupons were being used for the redemption of the LLINs.
He explained that an exercise to register households and distribute coupons to each household was done prior to the mass distribution campaign.
Registration, he explained started during the National Immunisation Day (NID) campaign, during which NID volunteers issued out coupons to households.
The number of nets allocated is based on the total number of people in the household recorded on the coupon.
Mr Gakpey indicated that any household unable to retrieve their LLINs during the stipulated period for one reason or the other should report at the sub-district or district health administration with the coupon for redemption of LLINs
Social mobilisation
According to him, prior to the campaign, the NMCP carried out various social mobilisation activities to elicit the highest level of public participation in the campaign.
The activities included meetings with community leaders and training to equip regional and district supervisors, community health volunteers, and other implementing staff with appropriate knowledge and skills to guide implementation of the campaign.
The meetings discussed the required supplies and human resource competencies for the successful implementation of the campaign, he stated.