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The National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) of the Ghana Health Service, has started the free distribution of 1.4 million Long Lasting Insecticide Nets to various households in the Central Region.

The distribution, which started last Monday and is expected to end on Sunday, is under the “Point Distribution” project, a nationwide malaria prevention campaign funded by the Global Fund, USAID and other development partners.

Speaking at a press briefing in Cape Coast Mrs Aba Baafoe Wilmot, Principal Medical Entomologist of the NMCP, said the exercise was to replace nets distributed under a similar project three years ago.

Mrs Wilmot said eligible recipients were those who possessed coupons given out earlier this year during the registration of households.

She said as part of the programme two people in a household would receive a net.

Recounting the success of the project, Mrs Wilmot said in the 2003 Ghana Demographic Health Survey report the prevalence rate of malaria among children from six to 25 months was 75 percent but this had reduced to 25 percent in the 2014.

She said the Global Malaria Report recorded 198 million malaria cases annually with 584,000 deaths globally and that 90 percent of the above figures were in Africa.

Mrs Wilmot said it was the desire of the Ghana Health Service to ensure that malaria is eradicated and called for a concerted effort from all stakeholders to help make it possible.