World Vision Malawi says the indoor residual spray (IRS) programme to curb the spread of malaria is progressing well in Mangochi District.
The programme is expected to be implemented for 36 days, according to World Vision Malawi deputy chief of party Prince Nkata who spoke during the 2021 programme’s review meeting in Mangochi on Tuesday.
With funding from the Global Fund, World Vision Malawi is supporting the implementation of IRS in Mangochi, Balaka and Nkhata Bay districts where teams of workers are deployed to spray dwelling structures with insecticides that kill mosquitoes that cause malaria.
Nkata said Mangochi is ahead of Balaka and Nkhata Bay, saying: “This is impressive and we hope to achieve the World Health Organisation mark of 85 percent at the end of the exercise.”
He commended good collaboration among partners such as Mangochi District Council, chiefs as well as disease control and surveillance assistants from various health facilities.
Nkata said within the first 12 days, 96 out of 100 structures have been sprayed with the insecticides.
He said over 336 000 structures in the district are expected to be sprayed. He expressed hope that this would be achieved due to good community mobilisation that results in good acceptance by property owners.
Mangochi district environmental health officer Kondwani Mamba called on the programme managers and their teams to be dedicated to ensure effective fight against malaria.
“Let us take a fresh step as we are going forward,” he advised the operation managers that attended the day-long review meeting at Nkopola.
One of the operation managers, Chisomo Masanje, who was stationed at Chiunda site, said the acceptance level was encouraging except for some structure owners who refuse for unspecified reasons.
World Vision Malawi started supporting the IRS in Mangochi in 2019 to complement government’s effort to eliminate malaria by 2030.
