Don’t use mosquito nets for room decoration – Nurse

Victoria Amerley Tettey, a nurse at the Dawhenya Health Centre, has urged residents to sleep under their treated mosquito nets instead of turning them into room decorations.

Tettey said the health officials have realised that instead of sleeping under the treated mosquito nets, especially the ones provided by the Ghana Health Service for pregnant women and children under five years old, most of them just hang them in their rooms.

She gave the advice in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on the sidelines of free health screenings for residents of Dawhenya organised by the Jesus Power Assemblies of God Church.

She indicated that they were seeing several malaria-positive cases both at the clinic and during the screening.

She said sleeping under mosquito nets was very effective in reducing malaria cases among people; therefore, the public should not choose comfort and abandon the use of the nets.

Tettey also advised them to cover their water containers, as failure to do so could make them breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

She said other breeding grounds, such as bushes and empty cans, should also be well taken care of through weeding and burying, respectively.

Touching on other illnesses seen at the clinic, she said hypertension was another worrying sickness among the people and urged people to check their diet, exercise regularly, and get enough rest.

She expressed worry about the craze for energy drinks instead of the consumption of nutritious foods containing fruits, vegetables, and other foodstuffs from the various food groups.