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Success Story
Initiative distributes nets to those most at risk
of contracting malaria
Treated Net Protects Vulnerable Groups
Photo: PSI
Mothers such as Mercy Matemba received free long lasting insecticide-treated nets, protecting her entire family from malaria.
“I am delighted with my PMI net because it is treated with long lasting insecticide... No one in my family has had malaria since I received my new net,” said Mercy Matemba.
The U.S. Presidential Malaria Initiative (PMI) supports work in Malawi designed to prevent and treat malaria, such as the Government of Malawi’s efforts to protect the most vulnerable groups by supplying 185,400 long lasting insecticide treated mosquito nets.
The “Chitetezo” (meaning “protection” in Chichewa) net was distributed to mothers and pregnant women, free of charge. PMI assisted the government’s national malaria control program by managing the handling, warehousing, packaging and distribution of the nets to participating health facilities nationwide.
Mercy Matemba received a free long lasting net after giving birth to her second child at a government clinic near her home in Blantyre’s Chilobwe Township, in Malawi’s Southern Region. She said, “I am delighted with my PMI net because it is treated with long lasting insecticide. My old net had to be re-treated and there was a chance I could miss a stage in the treatment process. No one in my family has had malaria since I received my new net.”
People are becoming more aware of the dangers and complications of malaria, and the use of long lasting nets help save the lives of poor and vulnerable Malawian children from malaria attacks. They are cost- and time-effective, as the insecticide lasts for the lifetime of the net (between three and five years), and reduces the pressure to frequently re-treat nets. The PMI’s nets are also easier to use than re-treatable nets because they are immediately ready for use.
Another unexpected benefit of introducing the PMI nets at government health clinics has been the increased attendance of pregnant women at pre-natal clinics and increased clinic-based births
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