Mr Anderson Obeng Amoako, Ada-East District Malaria Focal Person, has warned the public against using malaria nets for fishing and covering of food since it can contaminate the food.
Mr Amoako explained that the chemicals used to manufacture the mosquito-treated nets could pose serious health risks to those who consume such foods.
He expressed concern over the growing misuse of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs), which are designed to protect people from mosquito bites and reduce malaria cases, indicating that they were increasingly being used for unintended purposes, such as fishing and food storage.
He told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview that the nets were treated with long-lasting insecticides to repel and kill mosquitoes, saying although the chemicals were safe for humans when used correctly, they could become harmful when they come into contact with food or water.
“Once there are chemicals in it, we don’t expect it to get into contact with the food we eat, so we don’t encourage people to use it for fishing to catch small fish; even the corn dough we eat, people use the net for it; we eat a lot of chemicals that we are not aware of,” he stated.
Furthermore, the Malaria Focal Person warned that using these nets to cover food could result in direct contamination, increasing the risk of food poisoning and other health complications, and expressed worry over the increasing misuse of government-distributed mosquito nets, warning that improper use could undermine efforts to combat malaria.
Mr Amoako also indicated that the nets were treated with insecticides designed to kill mosquitoes and protect people, especially children and pregnant women, from malaria, noting that when used for other purposes, it would reduce protection against malaria and expose people to the risk of infection.
He said Ghana had made significant progress in reducing malaria cases through mass net distribution campaigns and awareness programmes, expressing the importance for Ghanaians to use the nets correctly, emphasising that they remain one of the most effective tools in malaria prevention. —GNA
