Nigeria distributes millions treated mosquito nets

ABUJA, Nigeria - Nigeria has distributed 46.9 million Long Lasting Insecticide-Treated Nets (LLITN), ?the only country in the world to do so, an official said in Abuja on Monday.

National Coordinator for the Malaria Eradication Program Chioma Amajoh told reporters that the number showed that the country had distributed 71 percent of all the nets needed in the western African nation.

She said in order to sustain the program, the country would need a pool of experts in the states to monitor the use of the nets after distribution.

The coordinator said it was necessary to mount a lot of campaigns on the proper use of the nets before they were distributed.

She said the nets must be aired for 24 hours before use and that a card issued entitled the benefiting household to two nets.

Amajoh said the program had also integrated the polio immunization into the campaign in northern Kebbi, Sokoto, Adamawa and Kaduna states.

According to Amajoh, malaria prevalence in the country had gone down as indicated by some monitored states.

She said the recent survey showed that 42 percent of households in the country now owned the LLITN compared to 2 percent in 2003.

She said multilateral partners were working in areas of comprehensive advantage in terms of locality and states as global funds could be assessed throughout the country.