Thousands miss out on mosquito nets in Apac

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Thousands of people have missed out on the recently distributed mosquito nets in Apac district.

Apac with an estimated population of 439,000 people received only 116,580 insecticide-treated mosquito nets from the Ministry of Health. This means 322,420 people missed out.

The local leaders argue that the nets which were delivered do not correspond with the number of people in the entire district.

Francis Ayo, the chairperson of Ilera Cell Village, Agulu Division in Apac Municipality, says he rejected the nets after he received only 155 out of the required 349 mosquito nets.

At Ibuje sub-county, a total of 729 bales each containing 40 pieces of nets were delivered.

Robson Bob Orech, the Community Development Officer at the sub-county says that the nets are inadequate for their entire population.

Francis Leone Oceng, the Assistant Health Officer for the District explained that the anomalies in the net distribution were generated at the national level.

Oceng says that there is a possibility of having an exaggerated number of people during the registration by the village health teams.

However, Francis Nkuanza, the team leader for the net distribution exercise said they also received data from the local leaders which informed them about the number of nets to be given out to the beneficiaries.

Information from the district health department indicates that there is an upsurge in malaria cases in the area.

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