Blantyre District Health Office (DHO) is set to distribute mosquito nets throughout Blantyre Rural areas and to 142 households in urban area with the aim of reducing incidents of malaria.

Speaking with Malawi News Agency (Mana) on Monday, Blantyre DHO Health Promotion Officer, Chrissy Banda said the campaign was launched on November 4 to inform people on the benefits of sleeping under mosquito nets.

“People must sleep under mosquito nets every night all year round to prevent mosquito related diseases. For instance, in 2023 there were 6.4 million confirmed malaria cases with incidence rate of 320 cases per 1000 population. So, to avoid this we want every family to have and sleep under an insecticide treated mosquito net,” said Banda.

One of the Blantyre City residents from Mbayani Township, James Brown welcomed the initiative, saying this will help families stay healthy and be more productive.

“It is paramount for families to be healthy. So, this development will help us to be focused and stay healthy because we will be sleeping peacefully under these mosquito nets,” Brown said.

Brown, however, advised some households who tend to use the mosquito nets for other purposes other than fighting malaria like fishing to use the nets for the intended purpose.