Rivers, ECOWAS Partner On Malaria Eradication

Rivers State Government and the Economic Community of West African States(ECOWAS), has begun collaboration to build a new mosquitoe biolarvicide factory to curb malaria in the sub-region.

Commissioner for Health, Dr. Sampson Parker, made the revealation during a chat with newsmen in Port Harcourt last Tuesday.

The factory Dr Parker revealed is to be run on a 50 to 50 basis and which is capable of creating over 500 jobs for indigenes.

Explaining the rationale why the government is collaborating with the sub-regional body, the Commissioner stated that the cost of importing the chemical from far away Cuba is huge hence its better to set up a factory close where it can serve Nigeria and the entire ECOWAS states.

His words,” When we came, ECOWAS said we can eliminate malaria and we added to it the biolarvicides and we were working with the Cuban government through their company Labiofam and for some period we used aircraft to spray, health officials were also at work in the effort to kill the larvae of mosquitoes at every mosquito breeding sites including lakes, overhead tanks etc.’’

Dr. Parker explained that the introduction of the simple strategy assisted the state government in curbing the menace and which made the state to clinch first position consecutively in malaria elimination nationwide in 2009 and 2012.

This feat, he stressed, prompted ECOWAS to commence talks on how to build a factory in the state to feed other parts of the region where malaria spread is high.

He however pointed out that the citizenry has a huge task to ensure the malaise is checked, as he underscored the importance of sanitation and environmental hygiene,” even a small piece of pure water can gather water’’.

For him, while the government has about 20 per cent role  the citizens have about 80 percent as he harped on more publicity to raise public awareness. Apart from malaria, Dr Parker stated that mosquito is also responsible for the recent lymphatic filariasis(local elephantiasis) and yellow fever and therefore called on the citizenry to join the fight to eliminate malaria and other vectors of diseases in the environment.