FIC Report (Nasarawa State) – The Nasarawa State Government says it would administer malaria prevention drugs to more than 1 million children under five years in 2025 as part of its efforts towards eliminating malaria from the state.
Dr Gaza Gwamna, Commissioner for Health in the state, disclosed at the media parley for the Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) round five on Thursday in Lafia.
The Commissioner explained that the state government targets 1,037,785 eligible populations, especially children under five years, to be administered the malaria drugs in its effort to reduce the prevalence to zero per cent.
He added that the state, with the support of Malaria Consortium, World Health Organization through the SMC programme, has been able to reduce the malaria burden to less than 15 per cent in the last five years.
“The drugs are administered free to healthy children aged -3-59 months across the 13 Local Government Areas of the state.
“11, 247 ad-hoc staff comprising Community Drug Distributors, Town Announcers, Supervisors, and Health Facility Workers have been trained and equipped to ensure smooth exercise,” he added.
Malaria Consortium is one of the largest international non-profit organisations working towards the elimination of malaria and other infectious diseases in Africa, Asia, and the Americas.
Gwamna noted that in the last five years of the implementation of the SMC and other anti-malaria interventions, the burden has reduced drastically to 15 per cent, particularly amongst children.
“From the creation of the state in 1996, the burden of malaria used to be 60 per cent but was reduced to 30 per cent in 2019 and now 15 per cent,” he added.
He called on residents of the state to regularly go for malaria tests to ascertain their status before treatment to avoid complications.
Gwamna said since the disease was responsible for the death of many people, the state government was investing towards eliminating it.
He warned that not all fevers are malaria-related and advised residents against self-medication to guard against complications.
He further advised residents to visit any health facility in the state for testing and subsequent treatment if found positive.
He advised the public to sleep under treated mosquito nets, adding that such practice is currently the best method to prevent malaria.
The commissioner further said that the media parley was to create awareness on how to reduce the burden of malaria in the state.
He, therefore commended journalists for their support of the campaign against malaria and appealed for its sustenance to enable them to win the fight.
Also speaking, Dr Kassim Musa-Khalid, State Programme Manager of Malaria Consortium expressed gratitude to the state government for the partnership in the last four years.
He explained that the implementation for 2025 had started in June and expressed optimism that the fight against the disease would be won with the support of other stakeholders.
Signed
ARI, LIMAN AMINU.
HEAD OF CENTRE,
FIC, LAFIA.
