Malaria, a disease spread by mosquitoes, has intriguing remained on the front burner and a major public health concern in Nigeria. According to the 2022 report on malaria in the country, no fewer than a terrifying 68 million cases and 194,000 deaths were recorded across the country in 2021 as a result of the deadly scourge. The report further revealed that Nigeria, which prides itself as the largest country in Africa, has the highest burden of malaria worldwide, accounting for approximately 27 percent of the global malaria burden.

New Telegraph's checks revealed that the prevalent high level of poverty in the country has resulted in the surge of unhygienic living conditions among the citizenry. Besides, the poor living standard by the vast majority of the populace has been adduced as a major factor in the outbreaks of diseases, particularly malaria that is endemic and life threatening. Unfortunately, the most vulnerable to this endemic scourge have largely remained the children of between the ages of 12 and 59 months as research has shown that they have the highest prevalence of a whopping 74.9 per cent.

These startling revelations, no doubt, should be a source of concern to the three tiers of government in Nigeria and a call for more commitment to fighting the scourge head on with a view to ensuring that the country is free of malaria, as research has also revealed that malaria kills an average of nine persons every hour in Nigeria. Besides, the three tiers of government need to assiduously work towards reducing youth restiveness, banditry, kidnapping, ritual killings and poverty which have held the country hostage for long and have become seemingly intractable by ensuring good governance, as well as creating massive employment opportunities for the teeming youths, knowing full well that an idle hand is the devil's workshop.

In the same vein, the citizenry has a great role to play in complementing the government's efforts by maintaining good and healthy sanitary conditions and ridding their homes, environments and drainages of dirt and stagnant water which are major ingredients for the breeding of mosquitoes. In this regard, it is, therefore, reassuring that the Kwara State Government is not resting on its oars to make the state malaria free and ensure a healthy life for all residents in the State of Harmony, aside from other strides in the health sector.

To all intents and purposes, provision of Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs) is key to malaria prevention, if only the people would ensure that they sleep inside it at night to keep them away from mosquito bite which is the main cause of malaria. It is, therefore, cheering that the Kwara State Government would be distributing a total of 2,692,209 Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs) free among the various households in the three senatorial districts of the state comprising 193 wards through a door-to-door approach during this year's Integrated Insecticide Treated Nets and Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) mass campaign to eliminate malaria in the state.

It was gathered that the Kwara State Government, in conjunction with the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) with funding support from the Global Fund Malaria Project, is involved in the 2023 process of the ITN/SMC malaria campaign. Speaking at a one-day Media Orientation Workshop organised by the Ministry of Health for journalists in Ilorin, the state capital, on the 2023 Malaria Campaign that would be flagged off on October 19, 2023 by the Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman Abdul-Razaq in Ilorin, the Deputy Manager, Media and Communication, Society for Family Health Nigeria (SFH), Mr. Gbue Daniel, said, “In addition to the ITNs that would be distributed free of charge to the populace, a total of 2,283,800 sulfadoxin-pyrimethamine with amodiaquine (SPAQ) would also be administered to eligible children of between three and 59 months as malaria prevention drugs.

According to him, the objective of the integrated SMC/ITN mass campaign is to ensure that, for every person in Kwara State, there would be one bed net to sleep inside, while every eligible child would also receive a full course of SPAQ, adding that the distribution of ITN and SPAQ would equally be done on a door-to-door basis across all the 16 local government areas. He added that simultaneous household registration and distribution of ITNs and SPAQ would commence on October 19 and run through to November 1, 2023, urging respective households to ensure that they leave somebody at home within this period to collect their nets.

“Households who have eligible children between three and 59 months should ensure that their children receive SPAQ. Also, it must be noted that SPAQ is given only to the children that are not sick,” Daniel admonished. Daniel, who stressed the need for caregivers to ensure that their children complete the SPAQ dosage for Day two and three, said the ITNs when collected should be aired under a shade for 24 hours before hanging and sleeping in- side in order to avoid any side effects, including itching.

The mass campaign is led by the Kwara State Ministry of Health and the Kwara State Primary Health Care Development Agency (KSPHCDA), with the technical support of Society for Family Health, other partners, while the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) provides necessary coordination and oversight. The Director of Public Health in the state Ministry of Health, Dr. Oluwatosin Fakayode, for his part, disclosed that at least 6,000 personnel, including ITN distributors, SPAQ dispensers, and recorders, would be deployed in the the exercise to ensure effective and efficient coverage.

The medical expert, who stressed that malaria has significant consequences, particularly for the vulnerable people like children who are under five years and pregnant women, lamented that it is a leading cause of deaths in Nigeria. He said: “Malaria is a leading cause of deaths in Nigeria, contributing to high child mortality rates and reduced productivity. Untreated malaria can result in complications such as anaemia, organ failure, and even death. “It is the commonest cause of absenteeism from schools, offices, farms, markets, etc resulting in lower productivity.

In addition to the overburden on health system, it also exerts a huge social and economic burden on our communities and country, retarding the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 40 per cent annually and billions of Naira is lost to malaria annually in form of treatment cost, prevention and loss of man hours. “Mobilisation and Distribution Team (MDT) would visit households, register the households, give them health talks, issue them nets and also administer SPAQ. Households must ensure that someone is available at home within this period to provide information to the code and collect the net.

The bed nets as well as the SPAQ are free.” In his presentation, a member of staff of the Federal Ministry of Health, National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP), Abuja, Bala Mohammed Masu opined that a significant method to prevent malaria is not to give room for mosquito bite by sleeping inside a properly hung ITN every night, describing the preventive method as the best assured way, as well as the most cost effective to fight malaria.