UNICEF
provides over a million mosquito nets
in Central African Republic
UNICEF and its partners are distributing more than a million mosquito nets in the Central African Republic to protect children and pregnant women from malaria.
The effort by the government and UNICEF aims to put at least one long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito net into each of the country’s close to 900,000 households in the coming months.
UNICEF says the Central African Republic has one of the highest child mortality rates in the world and malaria is one of the main causes of child deaths.
According to the agency, more than 170 out of 1,000 children die before reaching their fifth birthday with malaria accounting for an estimated 19 per cent of these deaths.
It says that regular use of long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito nets can decrease malaria mortality by about 20 per cent and malaria incidence by 50 per cent in children under five years of age.
The United Nations children’s agency points out that when combined with early diagnosis and treatment, the use of these nets can reduce malaria mortality by over 50 per cent.
UNICEF says that with the rainy season fast approaching, the distribution of nets is a timely campaign to protect hundreds of thousands of families at risk from malaria in the Central African Republic.
