Wife of Kwara State Governor flags off seasonal malaria chemoprevention

 

The Administration of House-to-House Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) to children between the age of three months to 59 months has begun in Kwara State North Central Nigeria.

 

The SMC is the intermittent administration of full treatment of an anti-malarial medicine during the malaria season to prevent malarial illness.

 

This is with the objective of maintaining therapeutic drug concentrations in the blood throughout the period of greatest malarial risk.

 

Speaking at the inauguration of the programme, Mrs Olufolake AbdulRazaq, the wife of the Kwara Governor, explained that the campaign is a significant step towards the reduction of malaria among the children in the state.

 

She stated that the support of the government and the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP), and SMC have the potential to save lives and improve the health of children in the state.

 

In his remarks at the event, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Dr Abubakar Ayinla explained that the government is committed to reducing the burden of malaria in the state.

 

He said that SMC is an important intervention that can help to achieve this goal.

 

According to him, malaria drugs are free, and they do not cure malaria, but they prevent Malaria.

 

“It doesn’t work alone; we have to ensure that our children also sleep inside the net. Our environment should be clean without mosquito breeding sites,” he said.

 

Ayinla said the mass distribution of malaria preventive drugs in the state had significantly reduced malaria cases in children between three to 59 months in the state to the barest minimum.

 

According to him, the state government would continue to strengthen routine healthcare services to improve the health of women and children through various healthcare initiatives.

 

“This initiative is consistent with the global malaria strategy, which aims to reduce global malaria incidence and mortality rates by 90 percent by 2030,” he said.

 

Ayinla urged parents and caregivers to bring their children to the nearest health facility to receive the SMC drugs, adding that the drugs are free of charge.

 

He explained further that the 2023 SMC campaign will be implemented by Community-Directed Distributors (CDDs), who are community members trained to deliver SMC drugs to children.

 

The Program Manager in the state, Hajia Nimata Raji explained that only 11 Local Governments will benefit in the first phase of the program, while the remaining five local are in the pipeline.

 

According to her, at the end of the program,  Kwara State will be free of any kind of malaria that causes the death of children especially five years old and below.

 

The traditional Head of the Community where the launching took place, Magaji Olowo Fada, Alhaji Usman commended the government for making healthcare delivery efficient and available in the state.

 

Dominica Nwabufo