The war against roll back malaria in Nigeria may seems stunted as the insecticide treated mosquito nets freely distributed to people by the government and aids agencies to forestall mosquito attacks and malaria are now being sold as bathing sponge. Udemma Chukwuma writes.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has listed Nigeria among the top countries in Africa that loses hundreds of citizens to malaria annually. To stem the loss, the country receives Insecticide-Treated bed nets (ITC) from international organisations like the United States Agency International for Development (USAID) and others, to stave off mosquito bites and prevent the spread of malaria among the people.
So far Nigerians has been receiving these nets free for more than nine years through various government agencies such as primary health centres, teaching hospitals, schools, community-base distribution centres, etc. However, of recent, it has been observed that the nets are being used for other absurd purposes which they are not meant for.
It was gathered that people collect these nets and resell them even when “not for retail sale and use only as bed net” is clearly written on the packs. It was also gathered that the nets are being used as fishing nets. At Iyana-Ipaja bus stop in Lagos, this reporter sported neatly cut pieces of the nets on sale as bathing sponge at the rate of fifty naira by sponge vendors. The reporter also sported the sponges in a shop at Ijesha, Lagos. A market woman, Mama Oluchi, as she called herself, said she has been using the sponge since last year without knowing it was cut out of treated mosquito nets. “I bought it on my street from a Malam,” she said, displaying the squeezed, white sponge.
Also the sponge is sold for one hundred naira in a shop at Iyana Ipaja market. The sales boy, who probably is not aware of what he is selling, proudly gave reason for the slightly high price. “Aboki (Hausa trader) dey sell fifty naira because dey no dey pay shop rent.”
What is left to be established is whether the long-lasting treated mosquito nets are also being sold in other states of the federation as bathing sponge or even as fishing nets.
There are however several questions begging for answers. Where did the sellers get the nets from? Is it the same nets distributed for free? Is it safe to use such nets as bathing sponge? What are the health implications of using them as bathing sponges? Are people aware that it is the same treated mosquito nets they are buying as bathing sponge?
Health hazard of bathing with the insecticides treated net
In order to get answers to these questions, a member of the nets distribution team and pharmacists, Mr Femi Ogunkoya, who was shocked to hear this news, said the nets contain chemicals which have health implications and are very harmful if it comes in contact with the human body.
“Human contact with the net could cause allergic reactions and now that they are cutting and selling them as a bathing sponge, this could be the cause of a number of allergies we have been seeing of late at the health facilities. To be sincere, I have seen a lot of allergies.” He added that the nets could be one of the causes of these allergies.
Ogunkoya said the chemical will still be in the net, no matter how well the sponge is washed and would still cause health hazards, “because the chemical is to last a minimum of four years. ”
He expressed fears on what will happen if the international agencies that donate the nets should get wind of this unfortunate trend and back out from donating in the future. “It is painful to hear this; it just shows the level of poverty in our environment. This could make the international agencies that donate the nets withdraw the gesture.”
“This news could also defeat what we call the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). Its goals are to reduce diseases such as malaria, HIV, syphilis, etc. Distributing theses nets for free is one of the strategies to reduce the burdens.”
A result of poverty and corruption
“Up till this present moment, those nets are still being given freely during antenatal to pregnant women, children who have undergone the immunization schedules at government facilities all over the country. Aside from these set of people, every four years, there is always a net campaign in every state, where every household will get a minimum of two nets for free. I also know of a strategy known as community-based distribution, where they also give it to school children in schools. So definitely, these nets are everywhere and access to getting it is not difficult.”
Ogunkoya said “The people cutting and selling it may be buying at a cheap rate because it is free. They can buy as cheap as only God knows. By the time they cut it to 200 to 300 pieces or even much more, you can imagine how much they will make. Unfortunately, for people selling the nets in the market, I will say it is a function of poverty and corruption.”
Omotayo Akintola, who just rounded off her youth service, said the cause is ignorance and she blamed the government for not educating the masses. “Most people don’t really know the use of mosquito net; they feel since it looks like sponge, they can also use it to bath. The government needs to do more in enlightening the masses on the usefulness of the treated mosquito nets.”
She stressed that poverty and unemployment are some of the causes of this. “When you don’t have any source of income, you look for other ways to make money. People should not just buy sponge but be very observant and ask if it is made from a mosquito net.”
Akintola said she was not aware that people are selling the treated mosquito net as bathing sponge. “The government needs to act on it, arrest the people that are involved in it, and also sensitise the masses that it is not for bathing but for preventing malaria.”
A mother and a house wife, Mrs Victoria Onu, also said she was not aware that people are selling the net as bathing sponge. “I am not aware that people have started selling the treated mosquito nets as bathing sponge. I am just hearing it from you. But I know people resell the nets when they collect it. I have seen it before at Iya-Iba market, Ojo. You will see it if you go there now, she stated. She urged the sellers to stop cutting and selling the net as sponge because “government is trying to help.”
Another pharmacist who refused to disclose his name said asthmatic patients are very allergic to the nets and it would trigger the asthma if they come in contact with it. He said the nets are not being distributed the way it should and concluded that “it is disturbing that this is going on in our society.”
Checking the abuse of the nets
Ogunkoya suggested that government should come up with better strategies of distributing the net to minimize its getting used for other purposes. He also said stopping it will require a lot of awareness on both the sellers and the buyers. He said it is important to also educate the so-called sellers on the health implications of the sponges.’
“After such nets are given, there is what you call post distribution survey to show that people that got such nets also use it appropriately. The details of those that receive the net you be documented; you cannot visit everybody definitely, but a fraction of them could be visited to see it they actually display or install the net in their rooms and also ask if they sleep under the nets or just hang them in their rooms.”
On how to trace the sources of the nets sold at the markets, he said: “Every commodity has batch number, there could be a survey team that could visit a few market, look at the badge numbers of such goods and from taking out that batch number, they can trace the source. They may not be able to trace the source from the health facility but they can trace the source from a public facility within the domain.”
He also suggested that the nets should be removed from the pack at the point when it is being given out. “This will make it less attractive for selling. I have heard that people use the nets for fishing, but it is news to me that they use it as a bathing sponge,” Ogunkoya said.
A civil servant, Mr Saliu Oladipo is of the view that there should be a follow up by the Ministry of Health and that the distribution method should be changed. They should go from house to house to distribute it rather than ask people to go to the hospital to collect the net. “If you give a hospital like 2000 pieces, how many people do you think will have time to go and collect it there? These people will not distribute it, they will sell it.” Oladipo said he bought the net for his child last year for one thousand, five hundred naira at Egbeda bus stop, Lagos.
Eschew using the nets for bathing
Ogunkoya said the public should be careful with the type of sponge they buy. In fact, to my own little knowledge, I know some sponges are not packaged in nylon. “White and blue sponge should be avoided as much as possible because these treated nets come in white and blue and are sold at any point. Even some sellers don’t even know the sources where the nets come from. It is those people that put it together that know the sources.
“Those who know should also enlighten their neighbours in their own little ways because information from one person to another could go far and wide and prevent the dangers inherent in using such sponges.”
Ogunkoya said the long lasting Insecticide-Treated Mosquito is expected to be spread under a shade for about 24 hours before being used, so that the chemical will fade out. Otherwise it can cause allergy. He said one is also expected to wash it once in two or three months, if it gets dirty and that even the washing would only reduced the chemical a little but not completely.
Insecticide treated bed nets ITC are a form of personal protection that has been shown to reduce malarial illness, severe disease, and death due to malaria in malaria endemic regions.
From 2008 to 2010, about 294 million nets were distributed in sub-Sahara Africa, according to WHO. WHO also estimated that 40% of people who died of malaria in 2013 in the world were Nigerians and Congolese.
But just how well does Nigeria stand in this battle against malaria, considering that one of the sure means of fighting this war is being sabotaged?