Millions risk dying of malaria in Centre, South regions.

PM petitioned to intervene, speedup purchase, distribution of treated mosquito nets
 

The Prime Minister, Head of Government, Chief Dr Joseph Dion Ngute, has been petitioned over the threats pose on the population of the Centre and South regions of the country due to the unavailability of the Long Lasting Insecticide Treated Mosquito Nets, LLINs.
The LLIN is said to be one of the strategic preventive approaches to fighting against malaria prevalence in Cameroon.
The Head of Government has been petitioned by some 65 civil society organisations. This is in a letter to the PM signed November 22, 2023.
According to the petitioners, the Public Health Minister, Dr Manaouda Malachie, in April 2022, had launched the procedure for the purchase of LLINs as part of the 2022 free mass distribution campaign for the Centre and South Regions. Both Regions had required an estimate of 2,799,750 LLINs. 
In another release issued by Minister Manaouda Malachie last September, a service provider for the delivery of LLINs to the targeted regions was awarded the contract as a result of the call for tender launched over a year before.  
However, the petitioners say the purchase and distribution of the vital tools for the fight against malaria has witnessed a vexing delay in the LLINs procurement process, leaving the fragile population at high risk of suffering from malaria, considered one of the most deadly diseases in the world.
The delay is said to have emanated after another service provider challenged the award of the LLINs contract, pointing out the lack of transparency in the process of appointing the service provider to deliver the contract.
Going by statistics from the 2022 malaria survey indicator published this year by the National Institute of Statistics, the disease has the highest prevalence rate in the Centre and South Regions, with 49% and 46% respectively. Some health and civil society actors have attributed these alarming figures to the lack of LLINs for these populations since the last two distribution campaigns.
Despite government’s continuous efforts, malaria remains an endemic disease in Cameroon with 11,000 deaths every year. This is in spite of the disease being included in the priority list of diseases to be tackled as reflected in the 2016-2027 Health Sector Strategy and the 2019-2023 National Malaria Strategy.

Click here to read the petition of the civil society consortium.