Alick Nzangaya
In an effort to help the Ministry Of Health and the Malawi government attain Zero Malaria, World Vision Malawi has launched an Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) campaign.
Through the campaign which is expected to be carried out for 36 working days, households in Mangochi, Balaka and Nkhatabay districts will be sprayed with chemicals that kills Malaria-causing mosquitoes.
Speaking at the launch in Balaka, Bizwick Mwale who is World Vision Malawi’s Chief of Party for Global Fund Grants, said the initiative will see nearly two million people being on the safer side from getting malaria.
The launch started with a solidarity walk which Mwale says was to remind people of the dangers of malaria and their roles in a successful house spray campaign where over 500,000 people in the district are expected to be malaria free due to the project.
He then thanked youths who participated in last year’s project claiming the initiative was so successful just because they dedicated themselves to the project and said is expecting the same this year.
“By the nature of its operations, our work of spraying homes to kill mosquitoes that transmit Malaria is termed ‘military work’ by some. Which is why we are thankful to all young people in Balaka, Mangochi and Nkhataby who supported this work.
“Nearly 3,000 youths from the three districts showed up in 2020 and visited households, near and far to fight Malaria. They went further than we ever imagined. It is because of them that the three districts reduced cases of Malaria by half,” said Mwale.
This year, the IRS campaign is targeting to cover over 539,313 eligible structures and in the process protecting an estimated population of 1,926,276 people from the three operational districts.
Meanwhile, Balaka district has started the spraying exercise on the launching day while Mangochi and Nkhatabay districts will start next week Tuesday on 25th October.
