The Ministry of Health (MoH) has partnered with Global Fund to distribute 233,191 long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLIN) to Taita Taveta County residents in efforts to fight malaria.
The distribution of the free nets targets 381,583 individuals and a total of 87,862 households across the county.
Priority has been given to miners, those living in marshy lands, in and near ranches given their high prevalence of getting mosquito bites by the virtue of their environment.
The modality of distribution of the free nets is pegged on one net per two individuals in the same household to achieve herd coverage.
According to data from Social Economic Data of Kenya, Taita Taveta has a population proportion of 26.5 percent within the risk bracket of malaria infection.
Also, data from the MoH’s Kenya Malaria Indicator Survey 2020, 57.9 percent of households in the county have at least one insecticide-treated net (ITN), while the percentage of children under 5 years who slept under an ITN each night is 54.5 percent.
Going by these statistics, Taita Taveta is far from winning the war on malaria with a considerable portion of residents not sleeping under insecticide-treated nets.
The MoH partnership to distribute LLIN will therefore fill some of the gaps towards the prevention of malaria in the county as part of the ongoing national and global efforts to reduce cases of malaria infections and mortalities among children under 5 years and pregnant women.
Throughout the country, the MoH and other global partners have been building capacity and giving technical support to hospitals and other health facilities in the 47 counties.
Other areas that have been reinforced include transmission reduction research, surveillance, monitoring, evaluation, and laboratory.
By Arnold Linga Masila
