With its NETCELL project the SDC, through the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, supports a coordination office implementing the national mosquito net programme of the Tanzanian government. Local production, subsidies and the distribution of the nets were organised in collaboration with a number of different partners. In the years 2009 to 2011, over 28 million treated mosquito nets were distributed across a vast area. In the space of 10 years (2000-2010), the mortality rate among children under five fell by 48% and 6,000 jobs in connection with malaria prevention were created.

Malaria remains one of the biggest health problems in mainland Tanzania. Of a total of 44 million inhabitants, 90 percent have a high risk of contracting malaria. Every year between 14 and 18 million malaria cases and more than 60,000 deaths from malaria are registered.
To combat malaria, the SDC's NETCELL project has been supporting a coordination office for the mosquito net programme as part of the government's efforts to control malaria. Technical and staff support is provided through the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute. 

From pilot project to national strategy

The NETCELL project was born from a successful pilot project. The Kilombero Net project, KINET in short, was carried out in the Kilombero Valley in the southeast of Tanzania between 1996 and 2000. Scientists from the Ifakara Health Institute, the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine demonstrated that the risk of contracting malaria can be reduced substantially through the regular use of mosquito nets treated with insecticides.

Comprehensive information and marketing campaigns were developed to make the population aware of the danger of malaria and encourage them to buy mosquito nets. The project also showed that subsidies on mosquito nets actually do motivate the population to buy and use these nets.

In 2000, the Ministry of Health in Tanzania officially adopted a national strategy to combat malaria through the use of mosquito nets. Work started on developing a national programme, and private retailers were involved in order to set up a sustainable and fair national distribution system for mos-quito nets that also covers remote regions of the country.

Vouchers for buying nets

A clever voucher system was designed. Pregnant women and the parents of children younger than five years of age receive vouchers from the health centres which they can use to buy a mosquito net in the village shop for around 50 cents.

However, as many of the poorest people cannot afford a net even at the subsidised price, national catch-up campaigns were run under supervision of the coordination office from 2009 to 2011. More than 25 million treated mosquito nets have been distributed for the purpose of providing every place used for sleeping in Tanzania with a mosquito net as part of a major drive to reduce the rate of malaria infections and deaths. The coordination office is responsible for fund raising and for planning, implementing and monitoring the country-wide system.

Reducing child mortality, creating jobs

While less than 10% of all households in Tanzania had a treated mosquito net in 1999, 92% of households had one in 2012. By 2012, 56% of households owned enough treated nets to protect their entire family from mosquito bites. By promoting the widespread use of mosquito nets, the project successfully contributed to reducing the number of malaria cases in Tanzania. In the past five years, the number of people falling ill with malaria was halved compared to the previous years, and newborn mortality dropped by 44% between 2007 and 2012.

The project not only promotes the health of the Tanzanian people, but also boosts its economy. For some years now the A-Z Factory in Arusha in northern Tanzania has been producing mosquito nets. The factory employs more than 6,200 people, of whom 85% are women. Approximately 30 million nets are manufactured every year, making Tanzania, which a few years ago still had to import mosquito nets, one of the most important exporters of mosquito nets in Africa today.

Preparations for a future support programme are currently under way to ensure long-term malaria prevention by means of mosquito nets and to develop more efficient methods of diagnosing and treating the disease.

Securing long-term prevention, ensuring widespread treatment

The final phase of the project will concentrate on securing long-term malaria prevention through the distribution and use of mosquito nets and through a more efficient diagnosis and treatment of the disease. The Tanzanian government and partners of the NetCell project have agreed on a “keep up strategy” to ensure that mosquito nets are also widely distributed in rural areas. A new distribution campaign will also be launched, this time targeted at primary and secondary schools.