Entebbe – 17 June 2020- The Permanent Secretary, Dr Diana Atwine has flagged off the logistical arm of the mosquito net campaign dubbed ‘Under the Net’ at a brief ceremony held at the National Medical Stores warehouse in Katabi, Entebbe.

This campaign will take place in a wave based manner starting with the districts with the highest prevalence of Malaria and districts that have been affected by the floods. Under Wave I, 25 districts will be covered and these include: Alebtong, Amolatar, Budaka, Bududa, Bugiri, Bukwo, Bulambuli, Butaleja, Butebo, Dokolo, Kaberamaido, Kalaki, Kapchorwa, Kibuku, Kween, Lira Mbale, Namisindwa, Namutumba, Otuke, Paliisa, Serere, Sironko, Soroti and Tororo.

While flagging off the trucks to the various districts, Dr Atwine urged the population to make right use of the mosquito nets. “Please make sure that you sleep under the net, not on top or besides the net. Do not keep the net under the bed or under the pillow. This net is meant for you to sleep under” she reiterated.

Malaria remains a killer disease among the population and this was further alluded to by Dr. Atwine. “Why survive COVID-19 and die of Malaria?” she retorted. Several studies have shown that sleeping under a mosquito net reduces one’s chances of contracting Malaria.

The Assistant Commissioner in charge of National Malaria Control Division, Dr. Jimmy Opigo said that “Treated mosquito nets have a span of three years, after which they can no longer kill mosquitoes.” It is therefore against this background that the Government of Uganda distributes free mosquito nets to all Ugandans every after three years.

The campaign takes into account the need to protect households against COVID-19. “We have advised the VHTs and the entire distribution team to spend a short time in homes in order to reduce the risks of COVID-19 transmissions,” Opigo said. He added that there will not be any mass gathering like in the previous campaigns as a way of reducing contact among the people.

The commissioner said that the campaign will majorly use digital systems to collect data from households. “This is a paper-less campaign. All our district supervisors, data clerks and VHTs will hold smart phones that will help them in data entry,”Opigo said as he emphasized the need to be COVID smart.

On tracking the movement of the mosquito nets from the central warehouse to the sub counties, the General Manager, Moses Kamabare informed the public that Government has embraced ICT solutions. “We are using a digitalized system to track the movement of these nets, the same way we have been doing while monitoring the distributed medicines to the various health facilities and districts” he said.

In line with the COVID-19 guidelines and preventive measures, registration of households and distribution of the mosquito nets will both take place door-to-door with the teams fully donned in Personal Protective Equipment to prevent the spread of COVID-19.