The flag-off ceremony took place at Ezza North Local Government Headquarters, Ebiaji, on Friday.
Mr Lawrence Nwankwo, State Malaria Elimination Program Manager, Ministry of Health, Ebonyi State, told Journalists that the choice of Ezza North LGA for the flag off was to raise awareness and acceptance of the net.
"The distribution of nets began today here in Ezza North, which is the state flag-off, and it will continue from the 3rd to the 4th of February this year, and every household in Ebonyi must have received their nets," Mr Nwankwo said.
On the quantity of nets to be distributed, Mr. Nwankwo said: "We are looking at one million, seven hundred, and eighty-six thousand nets, but what we received this year was two million, eighty-three thousand." We distributed 1.7 million nets in 2019, but by 2023, we will have distributed two million, eighty-three thousand, and some fractions of a million nets to Ebonyi households.
"The net is a donation from USAID PMI." They support the state each period with these long-lasting insecticide nets. The state also purchases nets at regular intervals to supplement the partner's provisions."
This year’s mass campaign, according to Mr. Nwankwo, is targeted at every household, adding that "the other routine distribution that will come after this campaign will target children under 5 years and pregnant women."
"We will support household ownership through routine distribution, which will be given to children who have completed immunization as well as pregnant women who have gone to the facilities for ANC," he added.
The Executive Chairman of Ezza North LGA, Chief Ogodo Ali Moses Nomeh, noted in his address that malaria, which is caused by the bite of female anopheline mosquitoes, remained one of the deadliest diseases in Africa and Nigeria in particular.
"Government at all levels exists for the welfare of the people and society, including the protection of life through disease prevention and control, because we have established the fact that malaria is a deadly disease and we cannot just sit down and fold our arms, hence the fight against malaria through multi-pronged approaches like the distribution of the nets, malaria testing, and treatment, etc.," he said.
Mr Ogodo-Ali urged those involved in mosquito net distribution not to view the exercise as a political campaign, but rather to ensure that mosquito nets are distributed fairly to all residents of Ezza North and the state as a whole.
He thanked the State Governor, David Umahi, for providing the needed support and enabling environment for the conduct of the Net Distribution Campaign for the third time in his administration and, importantly, the choice of Ezza North as a center for the state flag-off ceremony.
