June 9, 2019 By Lemuella Tarawallie
The Paramount Chief (PC) of Biriwa Limba Chiefdom in the Bombali district, Alimammy Salifu Mannah Kalawa III, said he has instituted by-laws against bed nets defaulters.
The PC said he would be doing a follow-up process during and after the distribution of the bed nets in Peripheral Health Units (PHUs) and in every household in his chiefdom.
He said he would be using the same approach they used to end the Ebola Virus Disease by involving Village, District, Community, and Section chiefs and authorities to ensure that the bed nets reach the communities and were used for their intended purposes.
He said one of the by-laws would be that of inviting defaulters to the local court and impose fines on them.
PC Kalawa III added that Health Inspectors would also be involved in the exercise and that anyone caught would be fined, while the breadwinner of the household would face the consequences without any compromise.
He furthered that they would be using men in every household to take ownership of the fight and to also ensure that their families used the bed nets for their intended purposes. He called on the MoHS, UNICEF, UK Aid for their timely intervention.
Fatmata Samura, a pregnant woman and also a resident of Kamabai in the Biriwa Limba Chiefdom while receiving her bed nets at the Biriwa Community Health Centre, thanked the MoHS, UK Aid and UNICEF; saying that the bed nets would help prevent her and her unborn child against malaria.
She assured government and its partners that she would use the bed nets for its intended purpose.
The state enrolled nurse at Biriwa Community Health Centre, Ramatu O. Kamara while carrying out a malaria test on an under-five child which tend to be positive, said in most cases high temperature in cases like that might cause delay.
She added that they conducted malaria test on pregnant women within their first visit to the health centre, and that 4-5 months for under-five children.
Ramatu O. Kamara furthered that most of the under-five mothers spent time outside their homes, claiming that they wanted to get fresh air, while at the same time exposing their babies to mosquitoes.
She appealed to pregnant women and under-five mothers to use the bed nets for their intended purposes.
These statements were made last Thursday during the Maternal and Child Health Week (MCH) campaign week implemented by the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS), through the United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and partners and Funded by the Department for International Development (DFID).