ANOSY TSARARAFA, FARAFANGANA — The donation of six million mosquito nets from the United States government will protect more than 12 million Malagasy people from malaria. The donation comes from the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), led by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and implemented together with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), who have partnered with Madagascar to diagnose and treat malaria, and provided protective measures for millions of people. This donation of mosquito nets is part of the national mosquito net distribution campaign, which was launched today in Farafangana.

The Minister of Public Health, Professor Rantomalala Harinirina Yoel Honora, presided over the official launch ceremony for the national distribution campaign of long-lasting insecticide treated mosquito bed nets (LLINs) in Madagascar. USAID’s Health, Population and Nutrition Office Director Daniele Nyirandutiye, members of Roll Back Malaria, and local authorities also participated in the ceremony.

The Minister of Public Health and other speakers emphasized the importance of the use of LLINs in the fight against malaria. Indeed, despite encouraging results, malaria remains a scourge for the Malagasy population. The use of LLINs to protect against mosquito bites is a major component of Madagascar's national malaria strategy.

The national LLIN distribution campaign is an activity of the Ministry of Public Health, held every three years and most recently in 2015. The 2018 campaign will start on August 6th and will continue during the month of September at 7,658 distribution sites in 1,930 communes and 106 health districts across the country. The campaign is funded jointly by the United States Government, through the President’s Malaria Initiative, and the Global Fund which together have donated more than 13 million LLINs, including 6 million provided by PMI.

The Minister of Public Health thanked the United States Government for its contribution through PMI and the Global Fund. He emphasized the importance of implementing the national distribution campaign before the rainy season so that the population will be protected against mosquito bites during the period of high malaria transmission. For this reason, all 13 million nets will be distributed by the end of September 2018.

"Our contribution is also a gesture of solidarity between the American people and the Malagasy people to face, together, the public health challenge of controlling and eliminating malaria in Madagascar," said Daniele Nyirandutiye, Director of USAID’s Health, Population and Nutrition Office in Madagascar, during the launch ceremony. She reiterated the willingness of the U.S. government to continue supporting the Ministry of Public Health in this fight against malaria.

Through PMI, the United States Government is supporting the implementation of the National Malaria Strategy, particularly in the areas of insecticide-treated mosquito net distribution, indoor residual spraying in homes in high-transmission areas, the protection of pregnant women against malaria, and the treatment of malaria cases.