Over 300 people have been screened for hypertension and diabetes during the Adewole Progressive Association (APA) Health week programme in Ilorin West Local Government Area of Kwara State.

Speaking at the screening exercise at Adeta Roundabout, Ilorin, the Head the medical team, Dr Ridwan Apaokagi, said the programme was aimed at assisting the community with health challenges.

Dr Apaokagi said malaria was a preventable disease if people took proper care of themselves through the use of Insecticide Treated Nets (ITN), screening
of windows and destroying the breeding sites of mosquitoes among others.

He also said that the wrong impression about the causes of malaria should be disregarded, explaining that working in the sun, eating too much oil and sleeping in the afternoon among others could not in any way cause malaria in an individual.

Also speaking, the Special Assistant to Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed on Secondary Health, Dr Ibrahim Gambari, lauded the community for the health programme and charged them to make their environment friendly by improving sanitation and to establish a common zone of refuse disposal with proper compliance enforcement.

Dr Gambari also urged the community to intensify more awareness campaign for the people to take more cognisance of their health and not wait until they were bogged down.

In his speech at the event, the chairman of the association, Mallam Isiaka Adisa Olorundare, said the theme of this year's health week which was "Adewole says no to malaria", was aimed at promoting awareness on the prevention and control of deadly diseases such as hypertension, diabetes melitus and malaria among others.

Mallam Olorundare also said that the association was determined to complement the state government efforts in its health programme towards reducing preventable diseases in the community.