HEALTH-NIGERIA: Lagos Takes Action To Reduce Malaria Scourge

By Toye Olori Reprint | | Print |

Toye Olori

LAGOS, Jan 16 1998 (IPS) - Local authorities in Lagos will soon intensify campaigns and programmes against malaria which kills more than 300,000 Nigerians every year.

A high number of deaths from malaria occur in Lagos State, because of its high population (more than six million), and its climate which encourages the breeding of mosquitoes. Most parts of the 3,345-square kilometre area is swampy.

The actions to be taken by government include prevention efforts and research. Dubbed “Eko Malaria Programme”, the project was launched this week by the Lagos State military administrator, Col. Mohammed Marwa.

Marwa said the local government in Lagos had acquired equipment, chemicals and drugs worth 70.25 million Naira (one US Dollar is equivalent to about 75 Naira).

Local councils have a major role to play in the campaign. They will be responsible for fumigating identified mosquito breeding spots using chemicals and equipment worth 11 million Naira (about 147,000 dollars) already procured for the programme.

Lagos residents have been blamed in the past for dumping solid wastes indiscriminately blocking drainages and causing flooding during rains and creating stagnant waters which are good breeding places for mosquitoes.

Since Jan. 1, malaria patients have been receiving free treatment in all the state’s health clinics as a means of encouraging people to seek early treatment. Marwa said effective and even expensive prescribed drugs would be dispensed to patients free.

The West African nation is also setting up a research programme to investigate the possibility of developing an effective malaria vaccine from local herbs, according to Segun Ogungbesan, the State’s Health Commissioner.

A research centre named after Nigeria’s Head of State General Sani Abacha is to be established at the newly created Lagos State University College of Medicine. About 10.7 million U.S. Dollars will be spent on malaria research over the next 13 years.

Health statistics show that 25 percent of infant deaths and 20 percent of maternal mortality cases in Nigeria are attributed to malaria. About 50 percent of Nigeria’s population of 110 million experience at least one attack of the disease each year.

In one of the first reactions to the announcement on the campaign, Toro Oladapo, secretary general of the non-governmental organisation Women in Nigeria (WIN) told IPS: “…It is a laudable programme, because if you look at the economic potentials of the majority of people who live in malaria spots, you will discover that they cannot afford the cost of (malaria) treatment in hospital”.

“The preventive aspect will encourage personal hygiene and improve the welbeing of poor people… Their improved hygiene will also prevent the disease and reduce the scourge,” Oladapo said. “It is good foresight, which will reduce the scourge of malaria in the country.”

She expressed the hope that the programme would be extended to other areas of health care, especially in the area of child delivery, where women can benefit more. “A lot of women at the grassroots patronise quacks, because of the high cost of delivery at hospitals,” the WIN secretary-general said.