UYO — Gov. Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom has flagged off the distribution of 2.7 million insecticide treated nets to households in the state.
Performing the flag off on Thursday in Uyo, the governor said elimination of malaria in the country demanded the concerted efforts of government and the private sector.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the distribution of the nets will last for five days.
Akpabio, who was represented by his Health Commissioner, Dr Emem Bassey, also said his administration with the support of World Bank had commenced free distribution of malaria drugs in the state.
“Malaria is a global problem that has existed with us for ages. The unfortunate thing is that malaria does not discriminate between rich and poor and is not religion inclined.
“Akwa Ibom is a peculiar state with lots of rivers and coastline that favour mosquito breeding, thus the need to deploy all proven anti-malaria interventions.
“The state government is determined to create a favourable environment for effective use of these nets for malaria prevention and control in the state,” Akpabio said.
He urged residents of the state to ensure that all family members sleep inside the nets every night for maximum protection against malaria.
Akpabio commended the Federal Government, the Global Fund, Society for Family Health and other development partners for their efforts at eliminating malaria in Nigeria.
In her remarks, the Permanent Secretary in the state Ministry of Health, Mrs Stella Usah, noted that malaria was a disease of public health significance.
Usah commended government at all levels and donor partners for the resources committed over the years to reducing morbidity and mortality due to malaria.
She said the distribution of the nets in the state would help to replace the old ones earlier given out in 2010 which had lost their potency.
In his goodwill message, the State Coordinator of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr Sylvester Agwai, said malaria intervention programmes had reduced the incidence of the disease by 30 per cent globally.
Agwai said such interventions between 2000 and 2013 had reduced the incidence of malaria by 34 per cent in Africa.
He, however, said achieving universal coverage of rural communities with life-saving malaria interventions was still a challenge in Nigeria and other African countries.
Agwai reiterated the commitment of WHO to the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) programme in the state.
Mr Emeka Okafor, who represented the Society for Family Health, said that it had been proved that sleeping inside the nets consistently reduced incidence of malaria by 50 per cent.
Okafor, who is the Deputy Director of Logistics in the organisation, said that this year’s net distribution exercise in the state was intended to reach 4.8 million people.
He explained that at least two persons were expected to sleep inside one net.
Other goodwill messages were received from the Global Fund, Nigeria Inter-Faith Action Association, Malaria Action Programme and National Malaria Elimination Programme(NMEP)
The distribution exercise was carried out by the state Ministry of Health in collaboration with NMEP and the Society for Family Health. (NAN)
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