US donates five million insecticide-treated bed nets to Oyo

The United States government, through the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), donated five million bed nets to Oyo State as part of a national campaign to provide enough nets for every Nigerian to be protected from mosquito bites.

The life-saving nets will reach all 33 local government areas in Oyo State. The bed net distribution is a critical component of the ongoing effort to end malaria in Nigeria, which results in nearly 96,000 deaths per year.

In addition to the nets, PMI also provided funding for logistics, including transportation and community mobilization carried out in partnership with the Oyo State government, which led the planning, coordination, and distribution effort. The total value of the contribution is near $18 million (₦7.4bn).

The distribution will benefit more than eight million residents of Oyo State, providing at a minimum one net for every two people within each household.

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The PMI programme in Nigeria is jointly implemented by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in coordination with the Government of Nigeria.

Since 2011, PMI has procured more than 67 million insecticide-treated nets as part of a $712 million overall contribution to malaria control in Nigeria. PMI also supports advocacy and mobilization to encourage members of the community to sleep under the bed nets every night, and trains health workers to test for malaria before treatment.