Govt rolls out massive mosquito net drive in Morogoro

MOROGORO: THE government, through the Ministry of Health under the National Malaria Control Programme in collaboration with the Global Fund, has begun implementing a plan to distribute approximately 1.5 million insecticide-treated mosquito nets worth 22.5bn/- to households in seven out of nine district councils in Morogoro Region.

The Community-Level Mosquito Net Distribution Coordinator from the Ministry of Health, Mr Peter Gitanya, said this recently in Morogoro during a sensitisation meeting for regional leaders on the household-level mosquito net distribution programme in the selected councils.

Mr Gitanya said that Morogoro Region is among the ten regions leading in high Malaria infection rates, according to a study conducted by the Ministry in 2025 across 26 regions nationwide.

He explained that the initial estimated number of insecticide-treated nets to be distributed is 1,474,146, which will be allocated to seven councils in the region.

Mr Gitanya listed the councils and the number of nets (in brackets) as follows; Morogoro District Council (231,644), Mvomero (251,959), Kilosa (368,632), Mlimba (174,769), Ulanga (139,138), Malinyi (134,497) and Ifakara Town Council (173,507).

“Gairo District Council and Morogoro Municipal Council have not been included in this programme because they were found to have lower Malaria infection rates,” said Gitanya.

Meanwhile, a representative from the Prime Minister’s Office – Regional Administration and Local Government, Department of Health, Social Welfare and Nutrition, Mr January Boniventura, said there is still a challenge of some people misusing mosquito nets.

He mentioned some improper uses, including keeping chickens and covering vegetable gardens, resulting in a situation that endangers public health.

He added that the campaign aims to ensure every household has a quality, insecticide-treated mosquito net for protection against malaria-transmitting mosquitoes.

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The Regional Malaria Services Coordinator, Dr Wahida Mtiro, said statistically women lead in malaria infections, while the number of infected men is lower because men are reluctant to go for testing.

Dr Mtiro said 2025 statistics showed that 75,000 women were recorded as outpatients, while 60,000 men sought malaria testing.

Speaking during the opening of the sensitisation meeting for regional leaders on the household mosquito net distribution programme, Morogoro Regional Commissioner Adam Malima urged citizens to use mosquito nets for their intended purpose as a measure to combat malaria infections.

Mr Malima said that the misuse of mosquito nets at household level has been a challenge that undermines the efforts of the Government and its partners in fighting and eliminating malaria in the country.

He called on leaders at district, ward and village levels to take the lead in educating communities on the proper use of mosquito nets provided to them in order to control malaria infections.

“We must ensure public education reaches everyone. My directive is that all public officials must have education on malaria prevention and it must be discussed in all meetings,” said Mr Malima.

Similarly, the Regional Administrative Secretary, Dr Mussa Ali Mussa, said the time has come to conduct in-depth research to identify areas with high malaria infection rates, a step that will help improve strategies to prevent the disease.