The Federal Government will, in the next 12 months, give each household in Nigeria two insecticide-treated nets as part of efforts to combat malaria in the country.
The Minister of Health, Prof. Babatunde Osotimehin, who disclosed this in a statement by his Special Assistant on Communication, Mr. Niyi Ojuolape, said the distribution of the nets was part of the integrated approach by the ministry to reduce disease burden in the country.
In the statement issued to mark the World Malaria Day, which will be celebrated on Saturday the minister stated that 61 million nets would be distributed to about 31million households in the country.
Osotimehin disclosed this just as the United Nations International Children‘s Fund expressed concern that in Nigeria, ”only two per cent of children under five years and pregnant women sleep under insecticide-treated nets.”
In a statement issued in Geneva, UNICEF said, ”Malaria is responsible for 30 per cent of childhood mortality and 11 per cent of maternal mortality. It reduces Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product by one per cent and is the commonest cause of absenteeism from schools, offices, farms and markets.”
But the minister, in the statement by his special assistant, explained government‘s efforts to combat malaria.
He said, “We are placing two mosquito nets in every household in Nigeria. These are not just the traditional mosquito nets as we used to know it. They are long lasting nets that have been treated with insecticides.”
According to him, the programme involves the placement of over 61million nets into about 31million households in Nigeria.
Osotimehin, who did not give the cost of the programme, stated that it would be funded by the government and development partners.
He added, “The resources we require from the government are available. Very importantly also is the goodwill and support of our development partners. This is also a direct result of the confidence they have in us to deliver.”
According to him, the nets have been treated with insecticides. He explained that they would not only repel mosquitoes, but also kill them.
The minister stated, ”The nets are special and very efficacious in tracking down and killing mosquitoes. They are called long lasting insecticidal nets. They are products of new technologies.”
They are ready to use and they require no treatment in that they are also dirt repellents and thus the nets are kept clean longer than usual.”
He recalled that until 2006, chloroquine was used for the treatment of malaria. The minister said that since 2006, the country had adopted the use of Artemisinin based Combination Therapies for the treatment of uncomplicated malaria.
According to him, the Federal Government and development partners have distributed 28m doses of ACTs to all the states since 2006.
Giving a situation report on the Roll Back Malaria programme, the UNICEF Executive Director, Ann M. Veneman, stated that progress had been made in combating malaria, particularly in Africa.
She disclosed that endemic African countries received enough nets between 2004 and 2008 to cover more than 40 per cent of their ”at risk- populations.”
According to the executive director, since 2004 the number of ITNs produced worldwide has more than tripled from 30 million to 100 million in 2008.
Veneman stated that effective programmes had led to declines in malaria cases and deaths at health facilities in many countries, including Eritrea, Rwanda, Zambia and Madagascar.
The executive director, however, expressed concern about high incidence of malaria in Nigeria, despite the country‘s laudable programme on the Roll Back Malaria.
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