By Brighton Chimsinde

Mchinji, April 24, Mana: A snap check has revealed that delays in the delivery of Long Lasting Insecticide-Treated Nets (LLITNs) to designated distribution points, as well as an inadequate supply of the nets, were major challenges that affected the recently concluded mass LLITN distribution campaign in Mchinji District, which concluded on Wednesday.    

Mchinji District Hospital Malaria Coordinator, Lameck Mzava, admitted in an interview with Malawi News Agency on Thursday that transportation of the supplies posed a challenge, despite the campaign finalizing within the scheduled timeframe.

“At some centres, beneficiaries did not receive the nets on their scheduled date because of transportation issues.

“Indeed, some centres only received their consignments around 1p.m instead of the scheduled 6a.m. Our assigned transporter faced several vehicle breakdowns, which disrupted the campaign," said Mzava.

He, however, added that the challenges were managed and that all registered households eventually received their nets by the end of the campaign.

In addition to delays, some beneficiaries expressed frustration at having to wait for nets as early as 5a.m.

Many beneficiaries and their village heads also voiced concern over the reduced number of nets allocated per household.

Group Village Head Chikwapulo of Traditional Authority Zulu in Mchinji said they were initially informed that each household would receive a maximum of four nets and a minimum of one.

“Now they are telling us the number has been reduced due to limited funding. The allocation was trimmed from four to two nets per household. We are concerned because many people were left without adequate malaria protection,” he said.

Despite the challenges, Mzava confirmed that during the campaign, which ran from April 19 to 23, a total of 411,868 LLITNs were distributed to approximately 197,000 registered households across the district.