Uganda’s ministry of health has distributed 20 million mosquito nets since August last year in the country’s renewed fight against malaria, one of the killer diseases.
The long-lasting insecticide-treated nets have been distributed in 122 districts across the country, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Health on Thursday.
The statement said 11 more districts will receive the nets by next month, bringing the total number of nets distributed to 27.5 million.
According to the statement, the exercise is aimed at creating a culture of net use and sustaining the gains achieved by the previous campaigns which led to the reduction in the malaria prevalence.
Malaria kills between 70,000 to 100,000 people in the country annually, mostly pregnant mothers and children, according to the ministry of health figures.
The country has made notable progress in the fight against malaria, with the disease prevalence rate dropping from 19 percent to 9 percent, according to the 2018/19 Malaria Indicator Survey.
The progress has been attributed to the continuous distribution of mosquito nets, case management, and indoor residue spraying.
Under the free mosquito net distribution, the ministry targets to have all citizens sleep under a mosquito net every night to prevent malaria.
