Malaria kills five in Sokoto

NO fewer than five people have been reported dead following the outbreak of malaria in some parts of Sokoto town .

Reliable source told the Nigerian Tribune that malaria epidemic had hit some parts of the state capital and its environs.

Findings by Nigerian Tribune revealed that most of the hospitals in the state capital had been filled to capacity with no bed spaces to admit more patients.

Piqued by this development, the state government said it would administer 3.6 million doses of anti-malaria drugs on the people of the state in the next four weeks.

Already, the required number of doses of the drugs have been procured and kept at various medical stores across the state.

Speaking when he led a delegation of officials round select health facilities in the state capital, Sokoto’s Commissioner of Health, Dr Balarabe Shehu Kakale, said the drugs would be administered in four phases, with 900,000 doses given in each round.

He said adequate arrangements had been made for a smooth exercise, and appealed to the residents to support government’s efforts to rid the state of malaria.

“As you are aware, we recently undertook massive fumigation of mosquitoes’ breeding areas across the state. We recorded successes in that front, but we are appealing to people to help us by keeping their environments clean.

“In close collaboration with other ministries, we are working to deploy sanitary inspectors that will move to nooks and crannies of the state to ensure compliance to environmental laws. This will help our efforts in ensuring that all areas are kept clean, thereby mitigating the effects of the deadly disease,” the commissioner added.

He added that the state government had conducted sensitisation exercise at various health facilities to enlighten residents on the need to adopt preventative measures while tackling diseases such as malaria.

Meanwhile, the state government has sent a delegation to condole with families of the five persons who lost their lives due to malaria-related ailment in Sokoto town.

The team was led by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Professor Bashir Garba.