US, Nasarawa spend N7bn on 1.8m mosquito nets

The United States Government and the Nasarawa State Government have committed over N7bn to the procurement and distribution of 1.8 million insecticide-treated mosquito nets to protect about 3.6 million residents against malaria.

While the US Government spent over N6bn on the procurement of the nets, excluding freight and shipping costs, more than N1bn has been earmarked for the distribution campaign scheduled to hold from December 6 to 12, 2026, across the state’s 13 local government areas.

The Nasarawa State Commissioner for Health, Dr Gaza Gwamna, disclosed this on Wednesday during a media parley in Lafia. He was accompanied by the Director of Public Health, Dr Peter Attah, and the Campaign Manager, Global Health Supply Chain Programme-Procurement and Supply Management, Patience Ochibe.

Gwamna explained that the state was initially expected to provide 10 per cent counterpart funding but released a substantial amount following negotiations.

He said the 1.8 million nets would be distributed across the 13 LGAs to reduce malaria infections, which he noted accounted for six to seven out of every 10 hospital visits in the state.

The commissioner identified children under five and pregnant women as the most vulnerable groups, adding that the proper use of insecticide-treated nets could reduce the malaria burden by half.

He said malaria prevalence in the state had declined from about 20 per cent to 11 per cent, with the government targeting a further reduction to five per cent within five years.

On the malaria vaccine, Gwamna said it was still in the pilot phase in some states and would be supplied through the Federal Government system in due course.

He explained that house-to-house mobilisation and registration would take place from November 15 to 21, during which officials would map and register households ahead of the distribution.

“We are urging residents across the 13 LGAs to grant the teams access because the data that they will collect will guide the distribution of the mosquito nets.

“The allocation will be one net to two persons, as determined by the application to be used during registration. But a man with two wives will be treated as two separate households to ensure adequate coverage,” he said.

The commissioner assured residents that hard-to-reach communities would not be excluded, saying the distribution would be conducted through the Primary Healthcare platform to ensure wider coverage.

He, however, warned residents against selling the nets or using them for fishing, stressing that they were intended strictly for protection against mosquito bites.

Gwamna cautioned that the chemicals used in treating the nets could contaminate fish and pose health risks to humans if misused. He added that community leaders had been engaged for six months to promote proper use, while security agencies would arrest anyone caught selling the nets.

In his remarks, the Director of Public Health, Attah, said training for state-level personnel involved in the campaign had been completed, while teams comprising malaria programme managers, directors of primary healthcare and social mobilisation officers had also been trained across the LGAs.

He said a local government coordinator had been appointed for each of the 13 LGAs, while 294 supervisors would oversee activities across the state’s 147 wards, with each ward having one state and one local government supervisor.

Attah said population growth, particularly in Karu and Lafia, had informed the decision to place a limit on the number of nets allocated to compounds in urban areas.

“In Lafia and Karu, the maximum you can give in a compound is two households. When you go to the rural setting, you could go up to three,” he said.

According to him, Karu will receive the highest allocation of more than 300,000 nets, followed by Lafia with over 250,000, while Wamba, which has the smallest population, will receive about 70,000.

Earlier, the Campaign Manager, GHSC-PSM, Ochibe, said the last mosquito net distribution campaign in the state was conducted in 2022.

She explained that the 2026 exercise would deploy Information and Communication Technology for Development, with mobilisers using point-of-sale machines to register households and issue slips for the collection of nets between December 6 and 12.

Ochibe added that residents would be encouraged to return old, torn and expired nets for recycling, while more than 9,000 personnel would be engaged for the exercise.

She said the movement of nets from the state store to local government areas had commenced and would be completed between November 17 and 19, while transportation to distribution points would take place from November 29 to December 2.

“The state flag-off is scheduled for December 5, while LGA flag-off and distribution will commence on December 6,” she said.

Ochibe disclosed that 1,961,067 nets were redeemed during the 2022 campaign, compared with 1,609,258 in 2018.

She said the operational budget for the previous campaigns was about N709m, excluding the cost of the nets, while the 2026 operational budget had risen to over N1bn due to inflation.