Mr Anderson Obeng Amoako, Ada-East District Malaria Focal Person, has warned the public against using malaria nets for fishing and covering of food since it can contaminate the food.
Mr Amoako explained that the chemicals used to manufacture the mosquito-treated nets could pose serious health risks to those who consume such foods.
He expressed concern over the growing misuse of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs), which are designed to protect people from mosquito bites and reduce malaria cases, indicating that they were increasingly being used for unintended purposes, such as fishing and food storage.
He told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview that the nets were treated with long-lasting insecticides to repel and kill mosquitoes, saying although the chemicals were safe for humans when used correctly, they could become harmful when they come into contact with food or water. "Once there are chemicals in it, we don't expect it to get into contact with the food we eat, so we don't encourage people to use it for fishing to catch small fish; even the corn dough we eat, people use the net for it; we eat a lot of chemicals that we are not aware of," he stated.
