The Jigawa Government is to distribute 3.7 million Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLINs) in the 27 Local Government Areas of the state.

Malam Bilya Haruma, the Malaria Elimination Programme Coordinator in the state, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Dutse on Wednesday.

Haruna said the agency has begun advocacy visits to relevant stakeholders in the state.

”The distribution will be done in collaboration with Roll Back malaria partners.

”We begin the distribution in August. We are starting at the community level. This will guide us to distribute the nets according to the population of each of 27 local government areas.

”We’ve already identified key stakeholders such as religious leaders, traditional rulers, line ministries security agencies, among others for successful conduct of the exercise.

“Religious and traditional leaders being the closest to the residents, have a vital role to play in mobilising people to sleep under the net,” Haruna said.

He said that the state government will embark on a sensitization campaign to enlighten the residents on the need to sleep under the nets.

“For one reasons or the other, sometimes people will collect the nets but will not use them judiciously.

“For instance, some people will complain that it is too hot to sleep under the net, some will convert them to fishing nets, while others will use them to shield plant nurseries.

“We don’t encourage that honestly, that is why we try to advise people to make maximum use of the nets.

”This is because the cost of importing these nets to Nigeria, from port to state, to LGAs and to communities and distributing them home-to-home is not a small amount of money.

“So at the end if people don’t make use of the nets, then the aim is defeated. That  is why we are encouraging people to use the nets so that they will compliment the government’s effort in its fight against malaria,” he said.

He called on the people to clean their surroundings and clear stagnant waters as part of measures against malaria.