Malaria Elimination: Osun Commences House To House Enumeration

As the house to house enumeration for the distribution of replacement of Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLIN) commenced throughout the State of Osun on Saturday 12th of August, residents of Osogbo, the state capital have applauded the move.

Residents of Jaleyemi, Odi-Olowo, Estate, Isale-Osun and most parts of Osogbo were caught unaware, as enumerators bearing both the emblems of the state and that of the international donor agency were observed going about and doing house marking and answering related questions from families.

Findings revealed that the exercise has been so far successful, as majority of the residents rendered full cooperation with the enumerators.

Some of the residents who spoke with OSUN DEFENDER revealed that since they were used to the exercise and they knew the outcome, they had no choice but to cooperate with the officials.

They noted that since at the end of the exercise, treated mosquito nets would be distributed free of charge, they were willing and eager to give them any information that will be useful to them, as such information would be useful at the end.

It was also observed that the enumerators took more time than usual to explain the importance of the LLIN, as it had been observed that majority of residents used the mosquito nets as door and window nets.

Some residents also had complained about the exercise, lamenting that they were informed that because of their marital status, they were not qualified to be recipients of the replacement LLIN.

According to them, they were told that because they were single, the nets were meant only for married couples with their children and pregnant women, wondering why they were being marginalised in the exercise in the fight against malaria.

However, residents of some areas within the state capital have complained that they have not seen any of the enumerators, expressing fears that there is a possibility that they might miss out of the replacement exercise.

It would be recalled that the LLIN was distributed across the state in 2013 and since the life span of the chemicals on the nets is three years, there was need for another round of distribution of insecticides treated nets as replacements for the old ones.

And for the year 2017 exercise an estimated, 2.99 million LLIN would be distributed to families throughout the State and the ratio is set at 1 net to 2 persons. The State of Osun’s Ministry of Health would be fully involved through the process.