The Government of Sierra Leone through the Ministry of Health in collaboration with UNICEF and other development partners on Friday, November 3, 2023, launched the insecticide treated net campaign at the Bo Mini Stadium in Bo City. The mass distribution campaign goes with the theme “Zero Malaria start with me”.
Officially launching the Programme, the Deputy Minister of Health Madam Jalikatu Mustapha, underscored the importance of the insecticide treated net, noting that it is importance not just for children under 5 and pregnant women but to everyone in the country.
The deputy minister said malaria is a leading cause of death with no respect for age, gender or nationality. She said sleeping under bed net prevents malaria transmission up to 50% and mortality rate by 25%.
She said the campaign is conducted every three years as the best way to rapidly reach out to all households to own and regularly use the Insecticide treated net. She used the opportunity to reaffirm government commitment in fighting malaria. She recalled that in 2021, the roll back malaria plan was developed to achieve the President Bio’s vision to improving on the lives of people. She called on the direct beneficiaries to make use of the Insecticide treated net to prevent malaria.
In his statement, the UNICEF Country Representative in Sierra Leone Rudolf Schwenk said launching of the Mass Distribution Campaign of Insecticide Treated Mosquito Net marks a significant milestone in efforts to end malaria, a preventable and treatable disease. He said the nationwide distribution of over five million insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) is a significant and strategic initiative that holds the promise of saving countless lives.
He pointed out that Sierra Leone has made progress over the years to reduce under-five morbidity and mortality.
He said malaria accounts for over two million hospital visits per year, of which children under- five years of age account for one million of these cases. He added that there is a need to protect children and give them a chance to grow up healthy and to live to their full potential.
He said to attain the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all by ensuring that no one is left behind as a country, there is also a need to achieve a five-fold reduction which demands collective efforts.
In his statement, the President for Malaria Initiative, USAID Representative, Ambassador Hunt said Sierra Leone’s democracy and its prosperity are inextricably intertwined with the health of its population. He said for too long, the burden of preventable disease has set back the political, economic, and social development of this country. It is for this reason that I’m very happy and honoured to join you today to launch a key health sector partnership that directly addresses one of the leading causes of mortality in the country.
He noted that successive Governments of Sierra Leone have been steadfast in their commitment to eliminating malaria partnering effectively with the United States in numerous anti-malarial campaigns and committing their own limited human and financial resources towards this effort.
He pointed out that over the past six years under the President’s Malaria Initiative, they have delivered more than 6 million bed nets as first line of defense against malaria and this year they will deliver another 5 million with more than 4 million rapid tests.
He said malaria remains one of the biggest threats to children in Sierra Leone and fewer children today are dying in Sierra Leone than ever before with decrease rate of children mortality.