Siaya County Department of Health in partnership with Rafiki wa Maendeleo Trust (RWMT) and the German Government BMZ through Rotary International have embarked on an Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) for the next 20 days in a bid to combat malaria. The pilot project that started on Wednesday 4 September 2024 will for now focus on eight community units before extending to other parts of the county. The targeted areas, according to Mr. Jasper Juma, RWMT Community Liaison Officer, include Lower Kagwa, Naya Lower, Upper Lieta, Kokwiri A, Nyabera, East Katweng'a, Ragengni, and Omia Mwalo.
While gracing the training programme that occurred at the Ragengni Resource Center a few days back, Dr. Omondi Owino, Siaya County Chief Officer for Health, indicated that the county still under heavy burden of communicable diseases. “Our health status is such that we have poor indicators with a number of disease conditions with malaria being the biggest,” Dr. Owino said. He indicated that malaria alone accounts for 40% of child deaths within the first five-year-olds and 39% for those older than the five years in the county. He urged for continued investments on health interventions, especially those for health status which most of the children and the community would desire to see improved health outcomes and control of malaria in particular. With regard to malaria prevention interventions, Siaya County has never conducted an indoor residual spraying campaign even though a considerable amount of money had been spent on other interventions including those targeting pregnant women and vector control.
RWMT Coordinator, Mr. Henry Anyona, emphasized the importance of complementary measures in the fight against malaria. He urged families to maintain the use of insecticide-treated nets, ensure that children under two years receive the malaria vaccine, and eliminate stagnant water around their homes, which serves as breeding sites for mosquitoes. These actions are crucial components of the county's broader strategy to reduce and ultimately eliminate malaria in Siaya County.
Addressing the press at the launch of IRS, Mr. Duncan Momanyi, Subcounty Public health Officer (SCPHO), urged the residents to equally embrace other malaria prevention strategies such as immunization for children below two years. To complement the already ongoing efforts to reduce malaria prevalence at a bare minimum, Mr. Momanyi revealed that they are not only distributing long lasting insecticide treated mosquito nets to pregnant mothers and newborns but also continuing with the mass distribution to all households.
While adding that their prevention strategies equally target breeding source for mosquitoes, Mr. Momanyi urged the residents to liaise with Community Health Promoters or visit the nearest dispensary for testing and subsequent treatment whenever they feel headache and fever. Mr. Momanyi further assured the residents that the chemical they are deploying - an organophosphate insecticide, pirimiphos-methyl (Actellic® 300CS), is safe and therefore has no side effects calling on the residents to open their doors for sprayers. Mr. Momanyi extended his heartfelt gratitude to Rotary International and the German Government through their local implementer Rafiki wa Maendeleo Trust for allocating resources to the County Government of Siaya for the exercise adding that they hope to achieve their target of spraying 7,200 households by the end of the program.
Speaking at the launch of the event, Mailah Oyiela Joseck, Subcounty Malaria Control Coordinator (SCMCC), revealed that Rarieda and Bondo Subcounties lead in malaria cases due to their close proximity to Lake Victoria while Gem sub county register high cases of malaria because of its closeness with River Yala, a source of breeding for the mosquitoes. While appreciating the multifaceted approach taken to reduce the malaria cases in Siaya, Alfred Anyango, the personal assistant to West Uyoma ward MCA Hon. Justus Oguta, urged the citizenry of the ward to cooperate with the Sprayers and welcome them to their houses to conduct their IRS activity that will last for 20 days.