Mosquito nets used for fishing and catching ants in Western Uganda

Children in Karangura sub county, Kabarole district, in Western Uganda using a mosquito net to catch mad fish recently. Photo by Francis Tusiime

BY FELIX BASIIME, FRANCIS TUSIIME & DAVID AYEBALE

Published on August 1, 2014 in Daily Monitor

KABAROLE/KIBAALE: It is not more than 5 months ago when government started the second phase of distributing free 3-5 mosquito nets to each family in Uganda in a bid to fight malaria countrywide.

However, most of these nets have seen a change of user to many beneficiaries in Western Uganda as some have either through ignorance or deliberately used them as wedding gowns, covering crops in gardens from direct sunlight, chicken pen, for catching ants and some of the nets have found their way in water bodies to catch fish.

Just in June, government announced that half of the country (about 76 districts), had received 11.9 million mosquito nets.

The distribution is part of the ongoing universal coverage campaign for long lasting insecticide treated mosquito nets. The ministry of health has so far distributed in the eastern and central regions and parts of western Uganda, a thing that has to some extent seen a drop in malaria cases at health centres.

However, in Kabarole, Kibaale and Kyenjojo districts the story is different. The local government is up in arms with some beneficiaries who have turned the nets to fishing.

The Kabarole District health educator, Ms Catherine Kemigabo recently warned people who got mosquito nets from government that they should only use them to fight malaria.

Malaria is the leading killer in Uganda, claiming an estimated 100 people per day. Children under five years and pregnant women are at a higher risk of being affected.

Kemigabo said, “The major vector for plasmodium that causes malaria is mosquitoes which bite people especially at night”

She said as an intervention to fight malaria in Kabarole, government through the ministry of health and support from the donors, has distributed at least 4 mosquito nets to every house in Kabarole District.

Not suitable for beds?

She said, “However, the majority of the people here have complained that the mosquito nets are too rough, that they are like fish nets and they argue that they are too hard to be used on the beds”

She added, “Some people living near water bodies have gone ahead to use them as fish nets, chicks pens while in Kyenjojo district they use them to catch white ants”.

She said the misuse of mosquito nets will fail the government program of fighting malaria in homes.

“The government spends a lot of money to buy drugs that treat malaria like coatem, chloroquine among others” Kemigabo said.

She said because of such misuse, it has made government hospitals run out of drug stocks especially malaria drugs because of many patients.

“The misuse of nets also contributes to poor production in all government sectors like
agriculture among others since the population that would be increasing production especially like women and youth, are sick all the time” she argued.

This has also affected the education sector where by children are always absent in class because of malaria and has increased poor performance in schools, she observed.

Kemigabo says apart from distributing free mosquito nets to each family, they have sensitized the people on how to drain stagnant water, cutting bush around homes and spraying among others.

“Few people have embraced the call and this remains the case of malaria being high in the hospitals like Fort Portal regional referral hospital, Kabarole hospital among others” she said.

Warning of arrests

“Government is to arrest any person found misusing the government facilities in unappropriate way” Kemigabo warned.

Rwenzori Diocese (Anglican) with support from the donors has embarked on the campaign of training people on how to lay their mosquito nets on their beds, and even how to sleep under them.

But, Mr Jerome Bagonza, a resident of Kasindinkwa village in Rutete Sub County, Kabarole says that, “It remains a big challenge to the people in the villages who still sleep on the ground on how to use the mosquito nets and unlike those in towns who have beds”

He said that some locals reject the new nets for causing side effects like body itching, sneezing, skin rush among others and that this has caused people to develop a negative attitude towards using the nets distributed by government.

“I personally have experienced the side effects of the drug and visited the medical doctors, I was advised that they can’t cause any harm it is just temporally, I’m now fine and used to sleeping in under this mosquito net” said Bagonza.

In Kibaale district, the story is not different; some people claim that the insecticide treated mosquito nets affect their biological, mental and physical health.

But the health inspector in charge of Greater Buyaga, Mr Peter Situma says that he has always received the mythical claims that sleeping under mosquito nets renders women infertile.

“Those are lame excuses. We want everybody to sleep under a mosquito net and anybody who says that they are not using them will be handled with an iron hand because the government is wasting a lot of money on nets for a healthy population” he said.

However, Mr Situma agrees that some people are allergic to insecticide treated mosquito nets because of the chemical used there. But he says it is short lived.

He said most of the patients at Kagadi Hospital pediatric ward have malaria cases which he said account for almost 80 percent of the total admissions.

Sub-counties with the highest malarial infection rates include Kyaterekera, Pacwa, Ruteete and Kyakabadiima among others where parents are adamant to use mosquito nets and following health advice like clearing bushes around their homes, filling holes, breaking old pottery and other containers that are breeding grounds for mosquitoes, according to the health inspector.

The number of children who die from malaria at Kagadi Hospital stands at 20 percent per month which Mr Situma says is high.

In May, the ministry of health delivered 267 bales of mosquito nets and was distributed in Greater Buyaga which covers more than 20 sub-counties.

The World Health Organization 2013 report ranked Uganda the world’s highest malaria incident with 478 cases per 1000 people per year.

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About 11.9 million mosquito nets have been freely distributed by government by June to about 76 districts.

The national campaign aims to distribute 21 million nets, with coverage of one net for every two people in a household. Already some 15.5 million nets were procured with funding from the Global Fund, 5.1 million from the US President's Malaria Initiative/DFID and 500,000 from World Vision Uganda.

These nets are in an addition to the 7.2 million which were distributed in 2010 under the Global Fund program targeting children under five years and pregnant women.

Health ministry says the nets can remain effective for up to three years, killing insects that come into contact with them.

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