WHO declares malaria most deadly disease in Northeast

Malaria Parasite

By Emmanuel Ande, Yola

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared that malaria remains the must deadly disease in the northeast region of Nigeria, with 65 per cent of patients in the hospitals suffering with malaria-related illness.

WHO Consultant for the Northeast, Ms. Nglass Ini Abasi, who disclosed this yesterday in Mubi North Council of Adamawa State, during the flag-off of Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC), noted that malaria is the number one risk in the zone.
The consultant explained that SMC is the intermittent administration of full treatment course of an anti-malaria medicine during the malaria season to prevent malaria illness by therapeutic anti-malaria medicine concentrations in the blood through the period of greatest malaria risk.

She stated that 1.5 million children in Borno State have already been administered with the drugs, while 117,000 children would be administer in Michika, Mubi North and Mubi South Councils, all in northern part of the state.
She said WHO was supporting the state Malaria Elimination Programme to deliver SMC in the three councils to children between the ages of three and 59 months, as well as pregnant women, using house-to-house strategy to ensure that all children within the stipulated age range benefitted from the life-saving scheme.
The consultant, who blamed insurgency on the high level of malaria in the region, noted that health facilities were destroyed, leading to weakening of the health system, thereby reducing health care services delivery to the people.
Speaking at the occasion, Commissioner of Health, Dr. Fatima Atiku Abubakar, commended WHO for its efforts to support the state to fight the deadly disease.
The commissioner, who was represented by the state Malaria Elimination Programme Manager, Mr. Isaac Kadala, said malaria remains one of the fast killer diseases in the state due to the destruction of health facilities by the insurgents.