A civil society organisation in Anambra has cautioned beneficiaries of free insecticide-treated mosquito nets against using them for fishing or preserving grains.

Chris Azor, the chairman of the Anambra Civil Society Network (ACSONET), gave the advice when he spoke at a ceremony to distribute 3.8 million ITNs in Awka.

The Anambra government, in partnership with the Malaria Consortium, plans to distribute the nets across all the 21 local government areas.

Mr Azor said each household would receive between one and four mosquito nets depending on the size of the family.

Commissioner for Health, Afam Obidike, said the people needed to be well-informed about the distribution.

“This exercise is in collaboration with the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP), Malaria Consortium and with support from GiveWell Open Philanthropic Funding. The 2022 insecticide-treated nets mass distribution, which commenced on August 7, is free for every household across the state,” said the commissioner.

Mr Obidike added, “The objective of the ITN mass campaign is to ensure that every two persons get one bed-net to sleep inside, and the distribution will be done on door-to-door bases across all the 21 LGAs of the state.”

According to him, the newly collected nets must be aired under a shade for 24 hours before hanging and sleeping inside.

The commissioner, while appealing to the residents to cooperate with the distributors, urged the media and relevant stakeholders to enlighten the public on the importance of the exercise.

(NAN)