Residents living near dams demand environmental spraying

Health News for Sunday February 28, 2021

Source: Albert Futukpor, Contributor

2021-02-28

Some people living near dams in the metropolis of Tamale have asked the Ghana Health Service to undertake regular mosquito spraying in their area to protect them from malaria.

They said the dams bred mosquitoes, which attacked them, some of them infected with malaria, and therefore have to spray their surroundings regularly.

They made the call when they shared their experiences on how to protect themselves against mosquito bites and malaria infection.

Ms Mariama Yussif, who lives in a compound house near the Zujung Dam in Tamale with her grandchildren and other occupants, said she loved her neighborhood but feared the relentless attacks she and her family received from mosquitoes in the area.

Ms Yussif said they turned to using mosquito coils and repellant to prevent mosquito bites, but two years ago she and her grandchildren spent a week at their admission to a health facility after being diagnosed with malaria.

She said that she and her household were then given insecticide-treated mosquito nets and advised to sleep under them, which they agreed to protect them from malaria.

Ms. Yussif said: “I knew that mosquito nets were effective in preventing mosquito bites, but we did not use them because of how we felt when we used them. With what we have been through, we will always use mosquito nets to prevent mosquito bites and malaria. We will also want our environment to be sprayed regularly to kill mosquitoes in the area.

Alhassan Iddrisu, a tailor living near Zujung Dam, said he used a ventilator at night to keep mosquitoes away, but six months ago he was weak and could not work and was later diagnosed with malaria .

Mr Iddrisu said he has since adopted the mosquito nets but would prefer the area to be sprayed often so that mosquitoes do not bite them during the day when they are outside.

Mosquitoes like clean, shallow, stable bodies of water to lay eggs and breed; and dams have such conditions, which is why dam sites are mosquito endemic areas.

Ghana is among the 15 countries most affected by malaria in the world with 3% of cases and deaths of malaria in the world.

The country reported the largest increase in the number of absolute cases (500,000 new cases) from 2017 to 2018, which was a 5% increase from the 2017 figures (from 213 to 224 per 1,000 of the population at risk) .

The National Malaria Control Program (PNLP) therefore undertakes residual spraying indoors and encourages residents of mosquito endemic areas to use mosquito nets, which are the most effective means of combating malaria.

In the specific case of people living near dams, the PNLP is embarking on the management of larval sources to kill mosquitoes in stagnant water, including dams, but this exercise has not yet covered many dam sites. dams across the country.

James Frimpong, Deputy Program Director, PNLP assured that efforts are being made to expand the larval source management intervention to cover many more communities by advising people living in mosquito endemic areas to use mosquito nets. mosquito nets, which had proven to be the most useful in protecting against mosquito bites.

Mr Frimpong also said that the PNLP is working to ensure that its indoor residual spraying exercise covers about 80% of the population in mosquito endemic areas of the country.