The Federal Government and Dangote Foundation have joined
forces against the fight on malaria in the country, reports NaijaAgroNet.
The partnership on malaria, NaijaAgroNet gathered would pave
the way to explore resources from private investors towards eradicating malaria
in the country.
The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, while
inaugurating the private sector initiative tagged: “Engaging the private sector
to eliminate malaria in Nigeria”, in Lagos said that the present administration
was determined to work with private sector not only in malaria control but also
in the other health challenges in Nigeria.
NaijaAgroNet recalls that malaria has been described as one
of the major causes of death of women and children in the country, which
accounts for 60 per cent of out-patients visits and 30 per cent of hospital
admissions in Nigeria. Just as an estimated $1.1 Billion US Dollar is lost
annually in the country, due to malaria treatment cost. It is the major cause
of absenteeism in the work place.
“Working with you today to launch this important document is
a welcome development, it is important that we embark on this initiative, it
would increase efficiency and ensure that we deliver” Adewole said.
He expressed worry that despite the large volume of mosquito
nets distributed in the country; the prevalence of malaria is still high which
clearly indicated that most of those who received the nets declined to use it.
Speaking on local production of mosquito nets, Adewole urged
private investors to consider the possibilities of producing mosquito nets in
the country.
“We cannot afford to be importing net, this net can be
produced in Nigeria and the market is huge. We need about 30 million nets every
year in Nigeria. A net has a life span of about 3years and if you compute on
the bases of 1 net for two people Nigerian would need 90 million nets over 3
years so every year we need to replace 30 million nets, so there is a huge
market apart from opportunities for export,” Minister said.
In his remarks, the Chairman Dangote Foundation who is also
the Malaria Ambassador in Nigeria, Alhaji Aliko Dangote said that Private
sector had an important role to play in mobilizing resources towards Malaria
Elimination Programme in Nigeria.
Uboshe Uboshe/GEE
... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology
i read your blog it really created awareness about mosquito related diseases, which mostly affected the children. so tell some measures also to prevent those diseases.
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