By Bolanle Lawal
The Ekiti Government on Tuesday said Malaria was a threat to the states development and therefore it would do all in its power to ensure malaria scourge was reduced to the barest minimum.
Dr. Oyebanji Filani, the State Commissioner for Health, made this assertion while distributing mosquito nets to mark the year 2021 World Malaria Day on Tuesday in Ado-Ekiti.
Filani vowed that the state would do everything to ensure a malaria-free Ekiti and a malaria-free Nigeria.
We need to understand that Malaria is not just a health problem; it is a threat to our development.
We must therefore pull our entire resources to ensure a malaria free Ekiti state and a malaria free Nigeria, he said.
The Commissioner said that consequently, the state government had distributed thousands of long lasting treated mosquito nets to pregnant women and under-five children across the 16 local government areas of Ekiti.
He explained that the scheme was primarily targeted at people classified as being at risk.
Filani said available statistics indicated that malaria prevalence in the state was 32 per cent in 2018, placing the state among the high burden states in Nigeria.
Quoting the World Health Organization (WHO), the commissioner said, malaria related absenteeism and productivity losses costs Nigeria an estimated 1.1 billion dollars every year.
He reiterated the commitment of the Fayemi-led administration to the welfare of residents in the state.
Filani said deaths from malaria were preventable and solicited the residents support for governments malaria elimination programme towards ending the menace in Ekiti.
He said that the theme for this years Malaria Day Zero Malaria Draw the Line Against Malaria served as a reminder that malaria was preventable, every malaria death was intolerable and a malaria -free future was possible.
This theme is a clear call to action for us as a state to double all efforts towards putting an end to Malaria in Ekiti state, the health commissioner said. (NAN)
Source: NAN News