By Aluta News
Jan. 17, 2022
The Nasarawa State Government, in collaboration with the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) with
funding from the United States President’s Malaria Initiative (U.S.-PMI) is set to distribute 2,060,000 insecticide treated nets to check spread of malaria.
The Nasarawa State Commissioner for Health, Mr Ahmed Yahaya, made the disclosure on Monday in Lafia at a one-day media parley for 2022 campaign
for mass distribution of Insecticide Treated Nets (ITN).
The commissioner added that provision of quality and affordable healthcare services was one of the topmost priorities of the Gov. Abdullahi Sule-led administration.
He explained that the state government was determined to partner any organisation to ensure better healthcare services in line with global best practices.
Yahaya said that based on studies and facts, mosquitoes, the carriers of malaria, could only be tackled if people slept under insecticide treated nets properly and consistently.
He added that the government had already trained personnel at the Local Government Areas, as well as the state level, preparatory to mass distribution of the nets.
The commissioner noted that personnel from the ministry would commence registration and issuance of cards to households across the 13 local councils between Jan. 20 and Jan. 28
He also said that after the registration, the distribution of the nets would commence from Feb. 7-15, 2022.
He, therefore, promised that the ministry would put machinery in place to ensure that the nets were effectively distributed to every household.
Also, Dr Ibrahim Alhassan, the Director, Public Health in the Nasarawa State Ministry of Health, said the media parley was aimed at building the capacity of media professionals on technicalities involved in passing effective messages toward eliminating malaria.
He said it would assist in informing the public on the distribution of the nets and the necessity to use them properly when collected.
Alhassan said the prevalent rate of malaria in the state had dropped from above 47 per cent in 2015 to 14 per cent in 2018 as a result of combined efforts and support from the media.
He said malaria was not just a health challenge but an economic matter as it had led to loss of lives and resources that could have been used for other purposes.
He expressed gratitude to the media for their support over the years, adding that the media had contributed immensely in reducing malaria from being a leading health challenge in the country.
Also, Mr Kingsley Godson, the Technical Team Lead on Insecticide Treated Nets Campaign in the state, said the state government and partners were spending huge amounts of money in the procurement of the nets and distributed freely.
He explained that the ITN were procured at the cost of N2.98 billion to be distributed to every household in the state.
Godson said that technological devices would be deployed to generate data, track nets and net cards, as well as personnel in the field to ensure effective distribution.
He said that a total of 9,548 personnel would be engaged and trained for the exercise in the state.
He, therefore, urged the people to make use of the nets when distributed to justify the huge investment.
NAN