Officials in Torit County of Eastern Equatoria State said misuse of the mosquito nets makes it difficult to reduce malaria.
Many people in the state prefer using mosquito nets for roofing their grass houses, and fishing.
Some people use the mosquito net for preparing their nursery beds especially the farmers, Dr. Abusanduk Bosco Kaka, who works at Imotong Specialized Medical Center in Torit town told Radio Emmanuel on Tuesday.
He said these activities weaken efforts to combat malaria amongst communities in Eastern Equatoria State.
Dr Bosco explained that people use the mosquito nets for building, more especially in areas where there no robes for building they will use the mosquito nets for tying the grass and put it up instead of using it for sleeping. Sometimes they use these mosquito nets for covering their nursery bed in other places. If you look in the community they also cut the hard part of the net for bathing’.
The official urged people not to use mosquito nets for other purposes, but rather for preventing mosquito bites every night.
He said malaria can only be minimized by tying mosquito nets and reducing bites.
‘We should use the mosquito nets effectively; the effective use of the mosquito nets is by metering the edges of the mosquito net in order for the mosquitoes not to get access into the net. People should also wash their mosquito nets, you cannot use the mosquito nets when it is not washed that make some people not to sleep under the mosquito net because it has a bad smell, we should know that mosquito net is only to prevent us from malaria’, Dr Bosco advised.
The medical doctor was speaking to Radio Emmanuel on Tuesday in Torit, eastern Equatoria.