270,000 children to benefit from seasonal malaria prevention intervention in six Oyo LGs

OYO State government, in collaboration with the Malaria Consortium, is to provide 270,000 children, aged three to 59 months, with medicines for malaria prevention between May and September in six local government areas.

This intervention, which is the seasonal malaria prevention, targets children living in its Sahel belt at the peak periods of disease transmission.  Malaria transmission peaks during the rainy season in Saki East, Saki West, Olorunsogo, Irepo, Surulere and Ogbomoso North local government areas.

Speaking at the Advocacy, Communication, and Social Mobilization (ACSM) core group meeting at the State Ministry of Health, Malaria Consortium Oyo State Programme Manager, Dr Taiwo Olarinde, said the children will be treated with doses of the two antimalarial medicines (sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine and amodiaquine) across five cycles starting from the 29th of May, 2025.

Dr Olarinde declared that children between the ages of three and 59 months who are not ill, not on any other sulphur-containing medications, or have an allergy to the chemical contents of the malaria medicines and who have not taken these drugs in the last month are eligible for the intervention.

According to her, the children will be given the doses of the medicines under the direct observation of the caregiver and supervision of community drug distributors who move from house to house during the exercise in the six designated local government areas.

She declared that since Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention commenced in 2022 in Oyo State, there has been a marked decline in malaria mortality and morbidity.

“At baseline, the state had a malaria incidence of 62-63 per cent. And across all the SMC-supported LGAs, we have recorded a marked decline in malaria when compared to other LGAs where there is no SMC. As of February, in one of the six local LGAs, we are in the range of 39.6 per cent,” she added.

According to her, Oyo State is one of the 21 states of the Federation that will be commencing implementation early based on NIMET’s prediction of early onset of rains in Oyo, Kogi, and Nasarawa.

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Dr Olarinde said in 2024, about 260,000 children were reached with medicines for seasonal malaria prevention in those six LGAs, with administration coverage of 99.2 per cent.

She urged the support of the Ward Development Committees in ensuring malaria cases are stemmed in the six LGAs through the seasonal malaria prevention intervention and sleeping inside the insecticidal mosquito treated nets.

The State Coordinator for Civil Society on Malaria Control, Immunisation, and Nutrition, Mr Segun Adio, stated the need for intensive and intentional effort for behavioural change on malaria.

He added : “We discovered that a lot of information is not getting to them. That’s why we need to be intentional. The issue of behavioural change requires a continuous and consistent effort.”

The State Ministry of Health, Malaria Elimination Programme Manager, Mrs Foluke Adeyemo, said the quarterly ACSM meeting was to have updates on malaria activities of organizations, ministries, and other stakeholders in the community and plans to commemorate the 2025 World Malaria Day.

She urged increased sensitization on what should be done in case of malaria symptoms and the importance of sleeping inside the net, and environmental sanitation and hygiene in malaria prevention.