Homa Bay Partners with USAID to Combat Malaria through Indoor Residual Spray
The County Government of Homa Bay has launched a 24-day Indoor Residual Spray (IRS) project to combat the spread of malaria through the elimination of the vector malaria
This is the sixth time the government is conducting the exercise that targets homes, compounds, and stagnant water points for the spray in an attempt to prevent Malaria whose current prevalence in the county now stands at 3.2%.
Speaking during the launch of the project on Wednesday at Wang’chieng ward, County CEC Member for Health, Hon. Roselyn Omollo, noted that the fight against malaria in Homa Bay County requires the collaboration of everyone in the county, as malaria is a major public health concern.
She emphasized the importance of everyone allowing the IRS officers to carry out the activity without hindrance.
“Children under the age of 5 and pregnant women are more at risk for malaria and often this activity is meant to cushion them,” Ms. Omollo said.
She added, “We have trained 1200 sprayer operators to carry out the activity, in partnership with the Community Health Volunteers (CHVs) as community links and gatekeepers in Homa Bay County.”
Homa Bay County Government partnered with the United States Presidential Malaria Initiative (PMI) through USAID’s Impact Malaria project to fund the combating of malaria in Kenya and the rest of sub-Saharan Africa.
“The launch of this project is a step towards achieving the target set by the World Health Organization (WHO) to reduce malaria cases and deaths by 90% by 2030,” Deputy Mission Director, USAID Kenya and EA Mr. Bert Ubamadu who equally led the launch remarked.
The WHO also recommends indoor residual spraying as an effective way of reducing malaria transmission.
The County CEC Member for Health, Hon. Roselyn Omollo urged everyone to play their part in combating malaria in Homa Bay County by allowing the IRS officers to carry out the spray activity and embracing other malaria prevention measures.
USAid contributed Sh400million to fund the programme targeting about 200,000 housing structures.
