The Kwara State Government has earned marked the sum of 75million naira for the procurements of malaria drugs and malaria testing kits.
The state commissioner for Health, Alhaji Kayode Abdul Issa disclosed this while declaring open a two day training programme for the drug testing efficacy study organized by the National Malaria Elimination and Control Programme under Federal Ministry of Health for health personnel in the state hospitals, Ilorin.
Issa explained that the state government has done a lot in curbing the menace of malaria among the children of age five and pregnant women across the state through distribution on insecticide created treated mosquito-net and free drugs for children.
He said the state always joined its counterparts in the country every year to mark World Malaria Day with the sensitization programme on malaria prevention in the country.
According to him, as Kwara State is one of the eight states running the course in Nigeria, the participants' needs to work hand in hand for the success of the programme.
He however congratulated the participants for been chosen to be part of the exercise saying this would go along way to improve the drugs efficacy in malaria elimination in the state.
Earlier in his opening remark, the principal investigator for the training, Professor Olugbenga Mukuolu, of the department of pediatrics, University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) explained that the programme is mainly to provide evidence on sensitivity of currently recommended anti-malaria drugs for the children.
Mukuolu explained that the training is the first of its kind in the state since the commencement of the programme in 2002 in the country, noting that there must not be a zero tolerance for the failure of the exercise in the state.
Also, in his remark, another facilitator, or Ahmed Abdulquadir also from the department of pediatrics UITH, said the programme was aimed at seeking comprehensive approach in the fight against malaria through the distribution of mosquito through training programmes.
According to him, the study is to check the efficacy of drugs presently used in treating malaria in children which are Lumiefantrine, Artesunate Amodiaquene and Dihydroartemism.
The facilitator therefore urged the participants to be dedicated to the training and put in their best for the success of the programme.