Smart protection against malaria in Tanzania
22 April 2008
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Tanzania
country profile | Millennium
Development Goal 6: HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
 Twenty-two-year-old Tabia Sulutan, her husband and two children are used to
a good night’s rest. Although they sleep cramped up in one bed, they have
something that, before now, has been pretty rare in rural Tanzania: an
insecticide-treated mosquito net.
The net stops mosquitoes from buzzing around the children’s ears while they
sleep, but more importantly it protects the family against malaria, the country's number one killer disease. A DFID-backed programme
has helped make this simple, lifesaving device available to Tabia and many
other poor Tanzanians.
A big investment, but a crucial one
Tabia's is a typical rural family. They live in a mud-walled,
grass-roofed house in Kiziko, a village of around 350 dwellings in Pwani
region, around two hours south of Dar es Salaam. Money comes from the
family's cassava field and from the small wooden animals that Tabia's
husband carves for tourists. These earn him 40,000 shillings (about £17) per
month.
"The mosquito net cost 5,000 shillings (about £2), which is a lot of money
for my family," Tabia says, "but we decided it was important to
protect our children from malaria. The village health committee had a
meeting to explain the dangers of the disease and how important it is to protect
your family with a mosquito net."
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A healthier family
 Since the family invested in a net in 2004, their health has improved. Tabia
and her husband have suffered fewer bouts of malaria, and the children,
who are both under five, have caught the disease just once in the last three
years.
Tabia bought the net from the town of Mkuranga, around 15 kilometres away,
where there are two shops selling them. One is Isa Shop, which
stocks a few hundred nets of varying sizes, shapes, colours and prices. It
sells to individuals as well as to smaller local dealers.
According to the manager, Saidi Juma, sales are brisk. "In the
rainy season we are selling around 800 nets a week. Our profit is 100
shillings (about £0.05) per net, so this is an important part of our
business."
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Getting the nets to rural areas
The insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) were made available largely thanks to a
nationwide programme called SMARTNET. This ran from 2002 to 2007 and brought
together the Ministry of Health, commercial mosquito net manufacturers,
distributors, wholesalers and retailers.
To ensure that the nets got to the people who needed them, SMARTNET
subsidised their delivery, and facilitated advertising campaigns around
them. It also supported community outreach work and village health
committees, like the one that encouraged Tabia to make her purchase.
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Saving more lives
In the past, Tabia Sulutan’s family, like many other rural people, might
have considered a net beyond their means. However, SMARTNET has
persuaded them that, though it's a big financial commitment, it's well
worth it. Still, they would prefer to receive the net for free, or at least
at a heavily subsidised price.
This year, the Government of Tanzania will make nets free for under-fives.
This initiative will be financed by the
 Global Fund, the World Bank and the
President’s Malaria
Initiative. Unless nets are made available to more of the population,
malaria will continue to be a major killer in Tanzania.
In 2006, almost 2.9 million nets were sold across the country, twice the
amount sold in 2003, the first full year of the SMARTNET programme. Potentially 40,000 lives are being saved each year as a result.
For poor rural people like Tabia, nets are making a difference, and she for
one is committed to carrying on sleeping safely. "As long as I have a
mosquito net," she declares, "my children will stay healthy and free from malaria!"
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Key facts
- DFID provided just over £14 million to the SMARTNET project for
the period 1998 to 2007. The project was co-funded with
the Royal Netherlands Embassy.
- In Tanzania, which has a population of around 38 million, there are
more than 16 million cases of malaria each year and up to 80,000
deaths of children under five.
- The SMARTNET programme is one part of a Government-led policy
for malaria eradication which also includes subsidised nets for
pregnant mothers and their infants. In 2008, this programme will be
upgraded to provide a Long Lasting Insecticidal Net (LLIN) which
requires no re-treatment and with the amount the recipient has to pay
reduced to 500 shillings (about £0.20).
- An additional programme will
provide a free LLIN to all children aged between one and five who are not
beneficiaries of the subsidy programme. Coordination of the various
net initiatives is the responsibility of the National Malaria
Control Programme (NMCP).
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