The BIMCP mass top-off bed-net distribution campaign launched on December 1, 2014 with distribution in Malabo District 1. The mass top-off campaign will continue into June of 2015, with the goal to distribute and hang sufficient quantities of LLINs free-of-charge to ensure that all residents of Bioko Island, of all ages and nationality, make a regular and continuous use of insecticide treated bed nets. The mass distribution campaigns will reinforce the reduction in malaria transmission by adding universal access to and use of long lasting insecticidal bed nets (LLINs) to the existing array of integrated malaria control interventions which include indoor residual spraying, larval source management, focused screening and treatment, enhanced diagnosis and treatment of uncomplicated malaria using artemisinin-based combination therapy and severe malaria using injectable artesunate, integrated information/education/communications and comprehensive monitoring and evaluation.

The mass top-off bed-net distribution was launched with a ceremony at the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in Malabo on October 29, 2014. The Secretary of State of Public Health and Planning opened the ceremony and emphasized the importance of bed net use, and assisted members of the BIMCP team to demonstrate how to properly hang a bed-net. During the event, members of the press were present to document the festivities as well as enjoy the performances of local singers Pili “La Peligrosa” and Narciso Ndong Evuna Mangue.

The mass top-off campaign is utilizing tablets to conduct an island-wide census and capture information about bed-net distribution, using an integrated Campaign Information Management System (CIMS), developed with collaborators at the University of Maryland. The program allows field workers to select the exact house they are working at using a geo-referenced house number, and enter information about household members and nets distributed. This information can be updated overtime to track movement of individuals, births and deaths, and additional event information. Eventually, it is hoped that the CIMS will be able to support all field work done under the BIMCP and EGMVI in Equatorial Guinea.