The state minister for local government Businge Rusoke has directed Kabarole district to come up with a by-law to stop the misuse of mosquito nets distributed by the government to the members of the public.

Rusoke, who also doubles as the Kabarole district Woman Member of Parliament says people misusing government mosquito nets are sabotaging government efforts in fighting malaria, according to her, people use these nets as bridal nets and in markets covering juice.

For a while now, in a bid to fight against malaria, the Ministry of Health has distributed mosquito nets to different rural areas in the country so that locals can protect themselves from the deadly disease that has been the cause of many deaths over the years. However, locals have often misused these, using them as curtains for windows, covering juice, fishing and many things other than sleeping under them.

Leaders in the Kabarole district have therefore come up with by-laws to end the misuse of mosquito nets. State minister for local government Businge Rusoke is one of the leaders spearheading this campaign and she narrates the frustrations surrounding this issue

The local government minister said this during the flagging off of the mosquito nets given to the district by the government through the Ministry of Health.

The nets will be distributed to 54 parishes in the district where every person according to the minister will receive the mosquito net.

As of September last year, statistics indicated that the malaria positivity rate for Kabarole district in the period 2021/2022 stood at 33.3 per cent, too high compared to the national target of 7 per cent.

According to figures from the National Malaria Control Program, clinically diagnosed malaria is the leading cause of death, accounting for 30-50 per cent of outpatient visits at health facilities in the country.
It is also indicated that 15 to 20 per cent of all hospital admissions in Uganda are malaria cases and about 20 per cent of deaths in hospitals country-wide are due to malaria.

Annah Tukahirwa, the assistant district health officer in charge of Maternal and Child Health says malaria is still a big problem in the district with 50% of the clients that report to the health centres testing positive for the disease.

Rwabuhinga Richard, the Kabarole district chairperson challenged the members of the public to use the mosquito nets appropriately given to them so that they can guard against malaria.