Paint maker Kansai Plascon has taken the Hold my hand to five campaign to Northern Uganda with refurbishment of select schools and child centers around Gulu municipality.
The paint maker which launched the first Anti Mosquito Paint product in the market powered by Kansai’s Knock down technology has embarked on painting schools across the country with the new paint which disrupts the Mosquitoes nervous system and affecting it desire to feed
Speaking during the handover of repainted class room blocks to Mother Ludia Nursery and Primary School in Gulu, Plascon’ s Retail Marketing Manager Mr. Tyron Immelmann said this is part of giving back to the communities in which they operate in.
He said “By being part of our communities we have come to realize some of the challenges faced by the communities in which we operate in. he said it is a sad realization that there are over one million deaths due to malaria in Africa and huge steps have been made by Uganda to ensure that we are malaria free by 2021.”
“And in understanding some of the challenges that our communities face we came up with the Anti-Mosquito Paint which is an additional vector control initiative that will work with other existing mosquito control initiatives by the ministry of health to help those most affected by malaria who are children under the age of five and pregnant mothers. That’s what the Hold my Hand to five campaign is all about – it’s about us joining our communities and holding our children’s hands till they reach the age of five years old as every child has the opportunity to dream to reach something greater in our communities,” Mr Tyron Immelmann said.
Adding; “We are proud of the stakeholders that have joined us on this journey, our product has been tested by the National Drug Authority, NEMA, and the ministry of Health and we are very confident about how the product will perform and the amount of safety it brings to our communities.”
Statistics released by Malaria No More, an organization dedicated to eradicating the disease show that a 10% decrease in malaria has been associated with a 3% rise in GDP. Reducing Malaria will keep children in school, allow parents to work, and reduce spending on medication and healthcare. Malaria No More also reports that the disease is the biggest killer of children below the age of five.
The product is an anti-mosquito paint and not a repellant and as such it kills mosquitoes on contact so we urge the public to continue remaining vigilant by using the existing mosquito control measures that they have been doing.
Patrick Kalong, health Assistant for Aswa country Gulu district said; “I want to appeal to Plascon that this should not stop here but extend it to other schools and child facilities across the region. This campaign Hold my hand to five is a good concept and we are happy that our school is the first beneficiary in Gulu and Northern Uganda as a whole.”
He thanked Plascon for joining the fight against malaria and re assured the community of the safety of the paint and encouraged the residents to buy the paint.
