From: Femi Oyelola, Kaduna
The Civil Society for Malaria, Control, Immunization and Nutrition (ACOMIN), Kaduna State Chapter has called on the media to help in contributing to Nigeria’s goal of eliminating malaria.
The State Program Officer of ACOMIN Ogidi Nicodemus asserted this during a media briefing on the Global Fund Malaria community-led monitoring project, in Kaduna yesterday
According to him the media can make this possible by mounting pressures on all government ministries and agencies to scale up community-centred initiatives in their programmes.
He added that the media can also assist in the fight against malaria by treading extra legitimate miles in encouraging donors to increase their support for community-centred initiatives
Citing the 2020 World Malaria report that says Nigeria has the highest number of global malaria cases and accounted for the highest number of deaths, the media, he believed can help in addressing the situation.
Speaking earlier State Chairman of ACOMIN Diji Haruna Obadiah enumerate the various initiatives so far deployed to fight malaria in the country, among which, includes the provision of free, long-lasting insecticide-treated nets, deployment of volunteers to carry out interpersonal communication at the grassroots level among others, he noted that ” it is no longer news that Nigeria still has a long way to go to achieve control of this deadly disease. ”
He urges all stakeholders to take the bull by the horns by advocating for more funding for the disease,
Diji listed difficulty in accessing hard-to-reach communities due to insecurity affecting many parts of the country, drug resistance by the malaria parasite among others as the challenges confronting malaria intervention.
While appreciating how the state government through the Primary Health Care Development Agency has been supporting ACOMIN in its activities, he stressed that there is a need for all hands to be on deck in order to reduce the prevalence of malaria in the state and the country at large.
