Promoting Pregnant Women’s Wellbeing

Several stakeholders in the health sector have repeatedly expressed concern over the debilitating effects of malaria on human health.

For instance, the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, noted with concern during the 2012 World Malaria Day that Nigeria had the highest malaria cases in the world.

According to him, Nigeria alone contributes about 23 per cent of the world’s malaria cases.

At a dinner in Lagos to mark the day, the minister, who was represented by Mrs Fatima Bamidele, the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, said that Nigeria also contributed more than 11 per cent of the world’s maternal deaths and 30 per cent of child deaths.

Chukwu also lamented that about 47 per cent of the global malaria burden came from just five countries, adding that Nigeria was one of the countries.

Malaria continues to be a global health concern and the World Health Organisation (WHO) insists that malaria is endemic in tropical Africa, with over 90 per cent of the total malaria cases and malaria-induced deaths occurring on the continent.

However, medical experts say that a more worrisome trend is that malaria infections are very rampant among pregnant women and children, especially in Nigeria.

They stress that malaria infection during pregnancy usually has a negative effect on the growth of the foetus, stressing the need for the initiation of proactive medical measures to save the lives of the babies.

They, therefore, call on all stakeholders in health sector to use the 2013 World Malaria Day on April 25 as a platform to sensitise the public to the dangers of malaria, especially among pregnant women.

The theme of this year’s World Malaria Day is “Invest in the Future; Defeat Malaria’’.

Dr Subair Saheed, a general physician at the National Assembly Clinic, said that pregnant women ought to be educated on the fact that malaria during pregnancy could lead to giving birth to babies that were underweight.

He underscored the need for regular medical check-ups of pregnant women, while treating them for malaria to avoid complications which could arise from malaria infections.

“Malaria is common in pregnancy; this is probably due to immune suppression and loss of acquired immunity to malaria. Pregnant women should, however, desist from self-medication,’’ he said.

Sharing similar sentiments, Dr Fred Achem, a gynaecologist, said that pregnant women should strive to follow the recommended intermittent prevention therapy so as to prevent malaria.

“There is something about malaria in pregnancy; it affects the blood level and that is why women should be given malaria prevention treatment,’’ he said.

Proffering a solution, Dr Kayode Obende, a gynaecologist at Garki Hospital, Abuja, advised pregnant women to always sleep under insecticide-treated nets to prevent malaria.

Obende said that malaria usually caused about 15 per cent of anaemia (shortage of blood) cases during pregnancy; adding that malaria infections were more common among pregnant women than other diseases.

He, therefore, underscored the wisdom in making efforts to prevent malaria during pregnancy so as to ensure the safety of the mother and her baby.

Dr Emmanuel Otolorin, the Country Director of Jhpiego, an international non-profit health organisation, also agreed that people should use this year’s World Malaria Day to educate pregnant women and the public at large on existing malaria-prevention strategies.

“Eleven per cent of women, who die in pregnancy or at childbirth, die of malaria; more than 20 per cent of children also die of malaria.

“You can see that malaria is a big problem; in fact, it kills more people in Nigeria than HIV, leprosy and tuberculosis,’’ he said.

Otolorin, nonetheless, stressed that women should endeavour to take anti-malaria drugs at least twice in during pregnancy, even if they did not notice any symptoms of malaria

“We assume that every pregnant woman has malaria parasite, so they should take anti-malaria medication at least twice, one month apart, after they have started feeling the movement of the baby in their womb,’’ he said.

Allaying the fears of concerned citizens over the growing menace of malaria in the country, the health minister said that the Federal Government had been making efforts to contain malaria infections via the adoption of some proactive measures.

Chukwu said that such measures included the distribution of long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLINs), adding that more than 46.8 million LLINs had been distributed across the country.

Besides, the minister said that the government had scaled up the use of indoor residual spraying of insecticides, while undertaking the massive distribution of anti-malarial medicines and commodities.

He noted that the government had executed capacity building programmes for health workers at national and state levels, while establishing effective coordination structures to coordinate the fight against malaria.

All the same, Otolorin urged the public to complement the Federal Government’s efforts by preventing the breeding of mosquitoes, the vectors of malaria, in their neighbourhoods.

“Sanitation is important in fighting malaria; breeding places for mosquitoes such as swampy areas and anywhere water can collect like bottles, plastic bottles, pots and pans, among others, should not be encouraged.

“Once you have stagnant water, mosquitoes can lay their eggs there and breed; then you see mosquitoes flying out of breeding grounds very close to houses.

“You need to clear the surroundings of your house; make sure you don’t have containers that can harbour stagnant water around,’’ he said.

The general consensus of opinion is: Sustained efforts should be made to promote environmental sanitation, while the people should be encouraged to adopt pragmatic malaria-prevention strategies.

Through such efforts, the celebration of the World Malaria Day in Nigeria every year would not be a futile exercise, some analysts say.

Ofili and Angbazo, write for the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)

Franca Ofili and Anna Angbazo