Ebonyi governor’s wife seeks increased attention to malaria prevention

 

The Ebonyi Governor’s Wife, Mrs Rachael Umahi has urged relevant stakeholders to pay increased attention to malaria prevention in the state and country.

Mrs Umahi made the call during a press briefing organised by her office, state ministry of health and development partners as part of week-long activities to mark the World Malaria Day in the state.

The governor’s wife represented by Mrs Grace Umezurike, Wife of the state Commissioner for Health said that such efforts should be holistic and have direct impact on the people.

“The main task before stakeholders is to enlighten the masses on the steady and appropriate use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets which prevent malaria transmission.

“The state ministry of health regularly distributes these nets to the citizens but they are instead used as barriers to birds among other pests in the farms.

“People complain that hot climatic conditions make them uncomfortable inside the nets but they should be enlightened to adjust through constant use of the nets.

She urged pregnant women in particular, to sleep under the insecticide- treated nets to protect themselves and their unborn babies.

“Stakeholders should collate and declare statistics of malaria fatalities as obtained with the COVID 19 pandemic.

“We would realise that malaria kills more than other diseases and this would make people pay more attention to its prevention.

Dr Daniel Umezurike, state Commissioner for Health represented by Dr Chris Achi, the ministry’s Permanent Secretary said that the government has shown great commitment to malaria prevention.

“The government has maintained a budget-line for malaria control activities and fund releases by the state and local government areas.

“The government has also created additional funding opportunities for malaria control activities through the Saving One Million Lives Programme For Results.  

Dr Barthlomew Odio, the Malaria Technical Advisor for Tip Top JHPIEGO, a development partner said that it would re-double its support to Ebonyi government to eradicate malaria.

Goodwill messages were delivered at the occasion by the World Health Organisation (WHO) United States Agency for International Development (USAID) among other development partners.