More than 700,000 children ages 6 to 59 months in five regions received a free long-lasting ITN, in addition to vitamin A and deworming medication, during the campaign in June 2008, just prior to the start of seasonal rains and the peak malaria transmission season.

Marietou Sarr and her 11-month old baby, Ndeye Maty, received a long-lasting ITN through a recent campaign that was supported by PMI. Source: Debbie Gueye/USAID Senegal

“Last year, during the peak season, I saw 584 cases of malaria,” says the chief nurse at the Thiobe health post in the Diourbel region of Senegal. “This year, there have only been 104. This is the difference that having mosquito nets makes.”Malaria has practically disappeared from this village of approximately 1,000 people, in the heart of Senegal’s millet basin. A trained birth attendant at the health post noted that “There is hardly any malaria this year. We can be at the health post all day and only see maybe one case.”

Thiobe benefited from a PMI-supported mass distribution of long-lasting ITNs, in conjunction with the MOH’s local micronutrient supplementation days. More than 700,000 children ages 6 to 59 months in five regions received a free long-lasting ITN, in addition to vitamin A and deworming medication, during the campaign in June 2008, just prior to the start of seasonal rains and the peak malaria transmission season.

Marietou Sarr says that she sleeps under the net every night with her 11-month-old baby, Ndeye Maty. There haven’t been any cases of malaria in her household this year, a marked difference from last year. She is grateful to have the net, a sentiment echoed by the village chief. “Giving bed nets to all the young children in the village has really helped us. We won’t forget this.”