Kaduna State Government on Friday lamented the misuse of insecticide-treated mosquito nets by residents who use same to cover vegetable gardens instead of covering themseleves to wade off mosquitoes.
Reports have it that the nets are being distributed free of charge to people as part of effeorts at checking the menace of malaria disease.
Expressing displeasure over the abuse of the nets, the State Health Educator, Ministry of Health, Mrs Maryam Kure, told our correspondent that such attitude amounted to waste of resources used in procuring the nets.
According to her, the nets are being used as cover to reduce the effect of sun rays on tender garden plants, as well as prevent lizards and other reptiles from damaging crops.
“It is very sad to note that people are still misusing the nets in their communities; for some time now, we have been trying to discourage such abuse”, she fumed.%
She said some people collected the nets and instead of sleeping inside it, preferred to use same in their gardens to cover their vegetables, or even as sponge for bathing and washing pots.
Kure said the misuse could be seen clearly in many households, and therefore warned against such unwholesome attitude, adding that the state government would henceforth monitor the situation.
She said sleeping under a long lasting insecticidal net (LLIN) was one of the most effective ways of preventing malaria disease
“Studies have shown that sleeping under a Long Lasting Insecticidal Net (LLIN) is one of the most effective ways to prevent malaria.
“The protection that a mosquito net provides against malaria is also doubled when the net is treated with an insecticide”, she explained.