NDDC, UNIPORT Inaugurate Malaria Research Board

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), has inaugurated the Governing Board of the NDDC Professorial Chair on Malaria Elimination and Phytomedicine Research, at the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT).
Speaking at the inauguration of the N50million endowment fund at the Council Chambers of the university, the NDDC Managing Director, Mr Nsima Ekere, stated that the main objective of the intervention was to reduce the prevalence of malaria through strategic control, curtailing breeding, transmission, as well as reducing the cost of treatment.
The NDDC Managing Director, who was represented by the Executive Director Projects, Engr Samuel Adjogbe, said that the endowment of a chair on Malaria Elimination and Phytomedicine Research, was apt considering the prevalence of the disease in tropical Africa and particularly the Niger Delta region.
He explained that the N50million endowment would be redeemed in two instalments of N25million per annum for an initial period of two years, noting that the commission recently released the first tranche of N25million for the Malaria Chair Research Programme.
The NDDC Chief Executive Officer said that the spread of breeding grounds for mosquitoes, the high cost of treatment of malaria and the increasing incidence of resistance and reactions to existing drugs provided the basis for the research programme.
He observed: “As malaria incidence increases, so do morbidity and mortality rates, particularly in the high risk population; namely, children, pregnant women and non-immune individuals. Along with malaria morbidity, comes economic losses, social and economic consequences.”