Ondo govt poised to tackle malaria, says residents spend N20bn annually for prevention

DAMISI OJO, Akure

Ondo State Government on Tuesday said it was poised to eradicate malaria among the citizenry in the state particularly among children.

Consequently, the steering committee for World Bank Immunization Plus and Malaria Progress by Accelerating Coverage and Transforming Services also known as IMPACT project had been launched.

Speaking during the inauguration of the steering committee held at the state Ministry of Health, the head of the committee and state Malaria Programme Manager, Dr. Waheed Folayan, said the project would strengthen the efforts to fight malaria in the state.

Folayan was of the view that residents of the state spend about N20billion on prevention and treatment of malaria disease annually.

According to him, “It is estimated that Nigerians spend 25 percent of their annual income treating malaria. In addition, it generally reduces Nigeria GDP annually by one percent. In addition, malaria has been noted to be a cause of poverty. Today an estimated 100 million Nigerians live on less than $1.9 per day”.

He said, “for example in Ondo State,  it is estimated that every household spent an out of pocket of at least N8,000 on preventive materials and treatment with anti-malarial across about 1.5 million households estimated at a cost of about ₦12 Billion out of the economy of Ondo State annually.

The state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Banji Ajaka, said the IMPACT project would strengthen the health sector of the state.

He stressed that the main objective was to reduce the under-five mortality rate by 40 per cent in the first phase.

According to him, the developmental objective of the project was to improve utilization and quality of immunization and malaria services in the state.

Ajaka noted that the project was a five year project which had already started in 2020, charging the committee to fast-track the assignment in order to deliver as meet the target in 2025.

His words” We have an herculean task before us, this programme started in 2020 and it is a five year project that means we have just two years to implement the programme. We need to speed up the implementation; the Project Implementation Unit and the steering committee are to work together as fast as possible to achieve the goal of the project.”

Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary of the state Ministry of Health, Mrs. Folukemi Aladenola, said state steering committee had received the formal approval of the governor and had made available the commitment fee of N80million only for malaria project with World Bank to support the reduction of malaria prevalence in the state.

Aladenola noted that the gesture of the government was a reflection of the state government’s commitment to advancing healthcare and ensuring the health of the people was properly taken care of.

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