US Spends N2.3bn On Campaign Against Malaria In C’River

In a bid to intensify the fight against the malaria disease, the United States Government through its agency (United State Agency for International Development USAID) has invested the sum of N2.3bn for  procurement of 2,376,400 insecticide bed treated nets to be distributed to residents of Cross River State.
Other areas  that the money is to be  spent by the US Government is for the procurement of insecticide bed treated nets for  residents of the state across the three senatorial districts.
Malaria Logistic Manager, Global Health Supply Chain-procurement Supply Management, Mr. Godwin Aidenagbon, disclosed this last Monday in an interactive session with journalists at the Ernest Etim Basset Press Centre, Calabar.
The programme, funded by USAID and implemented by  Global Health Supply Chain Programme is set to encourage residents of the state to become malaria free, if the insecticide bed treated net is properly used.
Speaking on  the importance of sleeping in insecticides bed treated net, Aidenagbon stated: “insecticides  bed treated nets protect us from mosquitoes that spread the parasites. Net last for three years”.
Aidenagbon advocated for  test of malaria before taking any  drug that would  eliminate  malaria  parasites stressing that any one who takes malaria drugs without visiting an expert to carry out a laboratory test is a sinner.
“Anyone who takes malaria medicine without test is a sinner”.
Other benefits of sleeping on insecticides bed treated nets as enumerated by Aidenagbon include sweet breeze and less mosquitoes bite.
“All we are trying to advocate is to ensure that it becomes a fashion for for every one to sleep inside the net.
“We want to prevent mosquitoes bite and spread of plasmodium, that is if we take preventable measures, you discover that the injected plasmodium won’t have where to spread to”.
Also speaking, NMEP Representative National Malaria Elimination Program, Alhaji Shaibu Abdullahi stated that all what they are trying to do is to reduced the number of vector density so that the number of
death can be reduced.
He urged Crossriverians to form the habit of sleeping in the net so as
not to be infected with mosquito parasites adding that insecticide bed
treated net have been proven world wide of being the best when it
comes to malaria prevention and. Control.
When asked where the insecticide bed treated nets are imported from
the NMEP representative said, “the nets are coming from Pakistan, they
have been in transit in the last 8 months and stressed that with
insecticide bed treat nets mosquitoes bits and malaria disease which
hitherto used be responsible for numerous number of deaths in the
state would become a thing of the past.

Friday Nwagbara, Calabar