We’ll Reduce Malaria In Delta, Says Azinge

 AS part of the programme to mark the 2017 World Malaria Day, the Delta State Government has said that it will continue to support efforts to reduce malaria burden in the state as part of the administration’s SMART Agenda. This was stated by the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Nicholas Azinge, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr. Minnie Oseji, in a broadcast yesterday in Asaba.

 He noted that the state has been making positive efforts at mitigating the impact of the disease on the populace through intervention packages agreed upon in the Abuja Declaration and called on all Deltans to join hands to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with malaria. “If we all do the little as keep our environment free of breeding grounds for mosquito, it will go a long way to reduce the malaria burden,” she added.

 He disclosed that April annually was a day of unified commemoration of the global effort to provide control and End of Malaria around the World, adding that World Malaria Day represented a chance for all to make a difference, be it government, company, charity organisation or individual. “You can Roll Back Malaria and help generate broad gains in multiple areas of health and human development, he stressed.

 Azinge averred that malaria remains both a major cause and a consequence of global poverty and inequality, adding that its burden was greatest in the least developed areas and among the poorest members of the society.

 According to him, “Malaria is a disease that affects the rich and the poor, mosquito that harbours the parasite moves from house to house, community to community, state to state and country to country, more so now that the world is a globalised village.”

While revealing that malaria constituted a major cause of morbidity and mortality among children under five and pregnant women, he said that malaria was usually contracted through mosquito bites and breeding of mosquito was associated with poor sanitation, particularly in an environment that harbours stagnant water.

 He said, “The theme for this year’s celebration “End Malaria For Good’ reflects the vision of a Malaria-Free World set out in the ” Global technical strategy for Malaria 2016-2030; Adopted in May 2015 by the World Health Assembly, the strategy aims to dramatically lower the global malaria burden over the next 15 years by reducing the rate of new malaria cases by, at least, 90 per cent; reducing malaria death rates by, at least, 90 per cent; eliminating malaria in, at least, 35 countrie and preventing a resurgence of malaria in all countries that are malaria- free.”

ROSEMARY NWAEBUNI.