SANGO-OTA (OGUN) – Dr Babajide Puddicombe, the President, Malaria Society of Nigeria, (MSN) on Sunday called on the Federal Government to provide more funds to effectively tackle malaria scourge in the country.
Puddicombe made the call in an interview with newsmen in Ota, Ogun after a public campaign to mark World Malaria Day.
The campaign, with the theme “Invest in the future defeat of Malaria’’ was organised by the association in collaboration with the Primary Health Care Department of Ado Odo, Ota Local Government of the state.
During the campaign, free drugs and treated mosquito nets were distributed to people in Ota and its environs to prevent spread of malaria.
He explained that malaria was a major disease that had claimed the lives of many people including pregnant women and children in the country.
“The death rate from malaria from year 2000 to date has been on the decrease due, largely, to public awareness efforts by federal, state and local governments as well as NGOs like the MSN.
“There is need to continue to sanitise people, through public enlightenment, on how to curb the disease because deaths that result from malaria can be prevented.
“That is why we set aside this day to educate people on the dangers of malaria.’’
Puddicombe noted that the treatment of malaria had been changed from mono-therapy to combination therapy using Artemicine Combination Therapy (ACT).
He added that the new treatment method had helped to reduce the number of deaths from malaria.
“The ACT treatment method has helped to reduce the number of deaths from malaria in sub-Saharan Africa from 1.2 million to 600,000 per annum.
“The control of malaria cannot be handled by government alone.
“We will require collective efforts which should involve credible NGOs like the MSN to truly defeat malaria in Africa,’’ Puddicombe said.