Stakeholders seek domestic funding for malaria eradication

As Nigeria grapples with COVID-19, stakeholders have called for concerted efforts by government and private individuals to ensure adequate domestic funding to eliminate malaria in Oyo State.

Director, Public Health, Oyo State Ministry of Health, Dr Wole Lawal, at the opening of a three-day malaria control advocacy stakeholders’ sensitisation workshop in the state said malaria burden is very high, with the greatest impact being among pregnant women and children less than five years.

The event, organised by the Nigerian Interfaith Action Association (NIFAAs) with support from USAID, had health experts, developmental partners into malaria programming, media practitioners as well as religious leaders in attendance.

Dr Lawal said advocacy tools and strategy need to be developed to improve uptake of malaria preventive therapy among pregnant women and to also ensure that more pregnant women and children under five years sleep under insecticide-treated nets.

He stated that although ownership of insecticide-treated nets are high, this is not commensurate to the number of people sleeping in it.

According to him, “I believe that this advocacy stakeholders committee will be able to develop a strategy that will ensure that there is improved uptake of Intermittent Prevention Treatment in pregnancy (IPTp) and more people sleep in the nets in our society.”

Mrs Elizabeth Adeleke, Oyo state acting malaria programme manager, said malaria control programmes in the state are largely donor-supported and listed malaria-related issues requiring advocacy to include resource mobilization for Behaviour Change Communication activities at the community level.

Others include state’s release of counter-part funds for Long Lasting Insecticide Nets (LLIN) mass campaign and the purchase of malaria commodities such as malaria drugs and rapid diagnostic testing kit for malaria.

She declared, “We don’t went partner to always be the one that always supports our facilities; we want increase uptake of IPTp for our pregnant women and that LLIN should be given to them at the first visit. We don’t want them to go down with malaria because it is devastating.”

Mrs Adeleke, in an overview of malaria burden in Oyo State, said that 16.1 per cent of deaths in children under five between January and June in Oyo Statewere  due to malaria.

According to her, within the same period, the state recorded 73.4 per cent of confirmed uncomplicated malaria and less than 20 per cent of pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic for the first visit were given LLIN due to non-availability of nets.

President’s Malaria Initiative technical lead for Oyo State, Mrs Taiwo Olarinde, stated that many episodes of malaria still occur annually, hence the need to mobilize resources to build and strength the advocacy for malaria control programmes.

She added that achieving this would require data that is representative of malaria situations in the state.

YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

More Shocks As Unemployment Data Exposes Misery Status Of Nigerians
BEFORE now, economic and finance experts found it difficult to assess the healthy nature of the labour market and how to measure the impact of government policies targeted at creating jobs because of lack of real time labour data. But on Friday, August 14, 2020, the concerns were only slightly eased as the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) published second quarter (Q2):2020 labour statistics, the first report since Q3:2018…

MONDAY LINES: Obasanjo’s (D)Art Of Condolence
Ben Guriano of The Washington Post described them in 2018 as ‘taboo enforcers.’ These are trolls seeking to upend truth and subvert facts about the life and times of the dead. ‘Do not speak ill of the dead’ came originally from a Spartan philosopher, then it was latinated by the Romans to read De mortuis nihil nisi bonum – and got spread around the world like Chinese viruses. The black man, as in all cases, contracted the no-no and turned it into a religion, got drunk with it and won’t mind killing for it…

2.4 Million Households To Benefit From FG’s Stimulus Package — Presidential Aide
TO ensure food security for citizens, at least 2.4 million households will benefit from the Federal Government’s post-COVID-19 stimulus package, a presidential aide says. Dr Andrew Kwasari, Senior Special Assistant (SSA), to the President on Agriculture, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja. Kwasari spoke against the backdrop of projects anchored by the Nigerian Economic Sustainability Committee (NESC) to secure the economy against the effects of COVID-19…

SERAP Demands Withdrawal Of Broadcasting Code Seeking To Sanction Contents ‘Insulting’ Leader
THE Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sent an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, urging him to “urgently instruct the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to withdraw the apparently illegal broadcasting code and memo threatening to sanction any broadcast that denigrates, disrespects or insults the president, governors…