Homa Bay health officers have been trained on indoor residual spraying of mosquitoes to control malaria.
The 147 officials will supervise spraying of anti-malarial chemicals in more than 289,000 houses in the county beginning February.
In partnership with Vector Link, the Bay government will provide chemicals to fight malaria prevalence through the cutting of the life cycle of female anopheles mosquitoes-the carrier agent of the disease.
Homa Bay director of public health Adel Ottoman said the officials will work with community health volunteers to conduct the work for a month.
Ottoman spoke on Sunday during the closure of the training in Mbita town, Suba North constituency.
Present were the county malaria control coordinator Robert Obonyo and county health promotion officer Michael Majiwa.
“Homa Bay is one of the counties around the lake region where the malarial spread is high. The exercise is aimed at fighting the disease in our midst,” Ottoman said.
Ottoman said the spread rate of malaria in Homa Bay is currently 26 per cent.
The spraying exercise will be combined with other interventions that reduce malaria prevalence by 75 per cent.
Governor Cyprian Awiti also launched a similar spraying exercise in 2018.
Last year, the Ministry of Health launched a malaria vaccine in Ndhiwa with the aim of eradicating the disease.
“Indoor residual spraying is only one of the ways of getting rid of malaria. We encourage people to also sleep under treated mosquito nets as a way of reducing the spread by 75 per cent,” Ottoman said.
Obonyo and Majiwa said they expect the sprayers to reached at least 97 per cent of homes.
They instructed the officials to work closely with CHVs to reach the target across the county.
“Local administrators like chiefs and village elders are involved to help us reach more houses. This is because some residents can resist officials from accessing their houses,” Obonyo said.
The health officers assured residents that the chemicals to be used have been tested and proved to be effective in killing mosquitoes.
“We’re also assuring locals that the chemicals mixture is not harmful to human life. The chemical has been designed only to kill mosquitoes,” Majiwa said.
(edited by O.O)
