Bukola Afeni
As part of commemoration of the World Malaria Day 2024 celebration, PanAfricare, has provided free malaria testing, treatment and mosquitoe nets to over 500 members of Mpape community in Bwari Area, targeting Nursing mothers, Pregnant women and Children under 5 years.
The PanAfricare Country Director- Dr. Patrick Adah, said the malaria outreach program is part of the activities to mark the World Malaria Day celebration in Nigeria.
According to him, the use of malaria net has increased in the country.
“Over the years, we have been sensitising people, and they are becoming more aware about the use of net, unlike what it is before, more people are getting the knowledge about Malaria control
“We have contributed towards sharing the knowledge about Malaria control. So if you conduct knowledge survey now, you will find out that more people are aware of the tools being used for malaria control than before.Our people now have knowledge about what to do when they have Malaria or fever”, he said.
The Country Director also urged the residents not to engage in self medication whenever they are sick, but rather go for testing to confirm if they have Malaria.
” We are here to sensitize the community members and also let them know the type of treatment and the drugs that is used for malaria treatment.
There are various activities that have been lined up to mark the World Malaria Day this year, and so the community activity that PanAfricare has done is one of the activities that the National Malaria Elimination Programme has outlined to celebrate the World Malaria Day”, he said.
Bwari Area Council Chairman, John Gabaya who was represented by Sa-Bwaja Moris Atnadu, Supervisory Councillor for Health and Human Services, commended the organisers for organising such laudable program in Mpape, Bwari Area Council
“I want to sincerely say a big thank you for the gesture, especially for chosing Bwari Area Council. We really appreciate it and as a council, we will continue to render our support for this programme to be successful”.
He urged the residents to always come out for such medical outreach that is beneficial to their health.
The Coordinator National Malaria Control Program Dr Godwin Ntadom, who was represented by Raphael Oyinbo, Advocacy Communication and Social Mobilisation Unit, said Malaria has been causing a great havoc, because it causes absenteeism in school and low productivity among adults.
” Statistics has shown that children may come down three to four times in a year with malaria, and each time they come down, you may not spend less than N6,000, which is more than the cost of a treated net”, he said.
One of the beneficiaries, Adamu Aisha commended PanAfricare for giving out the mosquito nets.
“My children always suffer malaria and I spend a lot of money on treatment. Now that drugs are so expensive, I have been praying that my children do not fall sick regularly again. So this mosquito net will help me a lot”, she said.
PanAfricare is an International non-profit organization, After 50 years of keeping the promise, Improving lives, and building futures for the African Population across all regions of sub-Saharan Africa, including the Federal Republic of Nigeria.Africare seamlessly transitioned to PanAfricare in July 2020.
The World Malaria Day is actually a day set aside to sensitive the public and to let them know about the various tools that are available for malaria control and prevention.
