Members of different households in Aperkira sub county in Kaberamaido district have applauded the government intervention of fighting malaria using the Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) as one of the programs.

The government has a plan of beginning another round of spraying houses in Kaberamaido on October 30, 2023. Some households were sampled on Friday October 14, to find out their views on IRS.

The IRS program was started in Kaberamaido district in 2016.

In Ajikai ‘A’ village, Olelai parish Aperkira sub county, James Samson Ojange who is a retired catechist said the IRS program had saved him a lot from spending money on malaria treatment.

Ojange said before the IRS came in, he would spend more money in different clinics to treat his grandchildren and other family members but the situation had now changed.

“I thank the government so much for this program. I welcome It back if the government decides to bring it back”, Ojange said this during interaction with local leaders led by Alfred Edakasi Elalu the Kaberamaido Members of Parliament.  The legislator was in the area with some district officials moving from household to house to assess the progress of the IRS program. Ojange said that when IRS was just introduced in the district, some people were skeptical but most of the myths that were being used for fighting the program have been proved to be wrong.

“The first chemical that was used was very smelly and I personally did not like it. It is what was going to make the program fail but the subsequent ones had no strong smell and I am okay with it”, Ojange added.

Meanwhile, Basil Akopan said when the IRS program was just introduced, he allowed his houses to be sprayed.

Basil Akopan from Ajikai A village in Kaberamaido says IRS reduces mosquitoes and malaria.

Akopan said some youth had initially shunned the programmed after rumours that the men would become sexually weak.

Since the program got done consecutively, he said they later accepted their houses to be sprayed.

He said one of his boys has already married and his wife had produced a child who was nine months old.

He said the fear that his boys had in his family became false and they have now continued allowing their houses to be sprayed.

“As a family, for me I support the IRS program. I will continue welcoming it when it comes back”, Akopan said.

A household in Onyal A village during engagement on IRS program.

Meanwhile, Mary Arago, a mother of seven children said the previous practice where she frequented the health facilities for the treatment of malaria cases had reduced.

She said she previously moved for malaria treatment weekly but this had reduced as she could take three to four months without having a malaria treatment case on any of her children.

Barbra Adongo a mother of a nine month old baby said ever since she produced, she had not had any malaria treatment against her baby.

“Whenever my baby falls sickly, I take her for a test but they do not get malaria. Instead, it is found with different ailments like flu and cough. I believe it is the IRS that has helped me”, Adongo said.

From Onyal ‘A’ village in Okapel parish, Henry Epolu said he had not seen anything wrong with the IRS program.

He said there were just many myths being created by some people against the IRS which were not true.

“It is usually male youth who have been fearing their houses from being sprayed. Most of them in this village would just lock their houses and disappear. The general fear has been that it could weaken them sexually but this has been found out not to be true”, Epolu said.

He said whenever there is an IRS, the number of mosquitoes reduces drastically.

He said the government intervention of distributing treated mosquito nets boosted the fight against malaria.

“Whereas there could be some people who can fail to have their houses sprayed, no one would want to miss a treated mosquito net”, Epolu said.

He said the challenge is always that the mosquito nets are not always enough.

He said in his family, he would sacrifice the mosquito nets for the younger ones.

“It is our tradition that children should always sleep well and be safer than adults. This comes when what is available is not enough for everyone”, Epolu said.

He also said the chemical used for spraying is good in killing all other insects like bed bugs.

Rose Akello said they sprayed her house when she was pregnant but she delivered well without any difficulty.

There has been a fear that the chemical used for spraying could have some side effects on pregnant mothers but Akello said she never had any challenge.

Michael Erimu who has two family members with athematic cases said it is not always easy to handle his people.

He said his wife and a son have always had breathing difficulties whenever houses are sprayed. He said he uses drugs to help them.

Erimu also said the storage of food is always a challenge as most of them keep their food in the houses they sleep in.

One of the athematic cases from Onyal ‘A’ village, Joel Ebitu said whenever the IRS comes, he should be excused as I find difficulties in breathing.

What are the findings of leaders?

The LC1 of Ajikai ‘A’ village, Godfrey Owiny says IRS has been of much help to his people than before. He said whereas some few people had negative views, the largest population had already embraced the IRS program.

“The number of those who have refused to spray their houses has reduced and those who miss are usually because of their busy schedules.

The IRS focal person of Kaberamaido district, Charles Elamu said his findings show that the positives of IRS are many and it had now been understood to be a program that fights malaria.

“We shall continue sensitizing the local people on where we have found gaps,” Elamu said.

He said they will engage their officers on the gaps from household level.

Meanwhile, the MP of Kaberamaido said he got the right information at a household level.

He said the government had done well with the IRS and distribution of treated mosquito nets which have been applauded by the different households they visited.

Edakasi says he will advise the government to always increase the number of treated mosquitos’ nets since they are always never enough.

He said households who do not get enough nets should be advised to add more using their little resources to have all family members be safe from malaria.

“I am happy with the positive testimonies I have got from the local people. The IRS is indeed in good condition and the government should continue supporting it”, Edakasi observed.