The incidence of malaria in Usa, Tanzania has dropped dramatically since a local bednet factory began distributing insecticide-treated nets here as part of a project supported by the World Health Organization.
Usa is surrounded by verdant rice paddies, which serve as fertile breeding ground for the malaria-transmitting Anopheles mosquito. Local farmers such as 26-year-old Judy Nico used to suffer repeatedly from malaria attacks. But five years ago she received insecticide-treated nets to cover each bed and window, and the attacks have subsided.
Unfortunately, at $5 each, these nets remain too expensive for many poor African families to afford.
Reporter Richard Lough has more from this village in northern Tanzania. |