The Edo State Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO), has rolled out the 2024 Operational strategies to reduce to the minimum, malaria-related deaths in the state.
The operational plans are fashioned towards achieving the National Malaria Strategic Plan (NMSP), 2021 – 2024 in Edo State.
This event took centre stage at a function organised by the state Ministry of Health, in collaboration with World Health Organisation, (WHO), in Benin City, Friday, December 22, 2023.
The National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) with support from the World Health Organisation, intends to provide technical support and capacity building to Edo State.
The Malaria Operational Plan serves as a management tool and blueprint that translates strategic objectives into planned activities meant to move from one milestone to the other and provides direction for programme implementation.
Delivering a lecture at the forum, an Independent Consultant/facilitator, 2023/24 Malaria Programme Review and Planning For 2024, Dr. Chukwu Emueko, said the plan is to reduce the prevalence of malaria in the country from the current high levels where it is killing a lot of Nigerians, particularly women and children that are very vulnerable to the disease.
Emueko said “Nigeria has the highest burden of malaria in the world, carrying about 27% of the total global malaria burden. The Federal and State governments actually come up with plans to reduce significantly the number of cases and deaths that are attributable to malaria, such that specifically it would be less than 10% prevalence, and less than 50% deaths per 1,000 of the population.
“And in order to do this, a strategy plan has been articulated which is called the National Malaria Strategy Plan From 2021-2025 which has five specific objectives. First is to improve utilisation of invitro control intervention by 2025 and also to ensure provision of Cemo Prevention Services to the population.
“Cemo Prevention means things like drugs to pregnant women from exposure to malaria, as well as for children .
“Collaboration and strategy planning partnership with different kinds of individuals both in the private sector to support the programme, and finally to mobilize resources”, Dr. Chukwu maintained.
Also speaking, the Promotion Officer, Edo State Ministry of Health, Dr. Dr. Denyinye Hitlar echoed the essence of Pre-texting of SBC materials.
“As part of our profession in the health promotion field, before you carry any material for mass production, there have to be pre-texting of that material to a small group of persons which will include, market women, religious leaders, laymen, etc. so that they would be able to have their own input, religion especially, so that you would not produce anything that will offend the public.
“So, once they are satisfied, correction is made then mass production can be done, you are rest assured that the people have interacted with the material before production.
“Because the production is actually expensive, you can’t spend millions producing, only to realise that there is a mistake, and that would be huge.
“Specifically, what we are going to be producing in 2024 include radio jingles, the video, the banners, the flex, flyers that we are going to be doing using for the promotion activity. So, before all those things are produced, you need to pre-text them”, Dr. Denyinye Hitlar stated.
Dr. Godfrey Imuetinyan, Chairman of the Association of Nigeria Private Medical Practitioners, Edo State branch, stressed the need for government-private sector synergies in fighting malaria, especially in Edo State.
“We in the private sector are quite interested in the collaboration with government and every other agency to ensure that malaria is controlled.
“You would realise that most of the private facilities are the first point of call for malaria patients. Actually, the private practitioners take care of up to 60 – 70% cases in our society.
“Though I am directly in the primary health sector in terms of the PHCs, however, having worked with government for almost 30 years, I think the present government are trying to reinvigorate the primary healthcare facilities which I think is the proper way to go.
“Our collaborations with the government have something to do with having workshops together just like this kind of meeting we are having together. I will go back and tell them the present trend and what they ought to do, especially involving statistics and returns to the ministry. I think that is one of the best ways, because you can’t plan without statistics, and most of these statistics are right there in the primary health sector that need to be harnessed for a proper planning and execution of an effective control measure for malaria.
“So, what we are doing now is to ensure that, our facilities in the private sectors are well informed by going back to them and giving them right information, and to also encourage them to contribute the appropriate data that is needed for analysis and for planning.
“My advice to the Edo State Government is of two ranges; the government cannot do it alone. The initial aversion to the private sector which government has displayed has been a major hindrance to the success of our health programme. And I am happy that it is being found that government facilities alone can’t do much if we are going to be effective.
“So, we would expect government to involve the private facilities and health sector much more closely, not necessarily looking forth of pursing taxes but to get them involved and show them what they ought to do and how they ought to contribute to the control of the malaria.
“Secondly, we also need to tell government to provide funds. Some of the projects and programmes that are being designed, it will be sad that with all the budgeting, until government releases money to those necessary agencies, they will be handicapped. So, one would expect that there should be increased budgeting allocation to health”, he noted.
Dr. Imuetinyan however lauded efforts of the Edo State Health Insurance Scheme, EdoHis towards getting Edo residents insured..
