Environmental Specialist urges govts. to redirect Malaria elimination to preventive approaches

Mr Francis Nwapa, the Managing Director (MD) Hatch Pest Control and Environmental Service Ltd., has urged all tiers of government to redirect malaria elimination interventions from curative to preventive approaches.

Nwapa, said this at the a three-day community mosquito control intervention programme among pregnant and nursing mothers in Ndokwa West Local Government area of Delta.

The MD said that mosquitoes have killed more than half of human population that has passed through the earth, with over 100 million cases globally.

According to him, Nigeria records 31.6 per cent of these statistics making it the highest in the world.

He said that the community mosquito control intervention was put in place to curb the effects among pregnant women and children below five years as they were the most affected.

“Our organisational goal is to shift attention from curative to preventive interventions in the fight against malaria through proper water control, construction of modern drainages, sewer system, dams and sanitary landfill to discourage open dumping practice.

“Then Nigeria will be on the path to controlling the vector that causes malaria.

“We enjoin the residents to support our #EndMalariaInNigeria programme in partnership with Malaria Partners International (MPI), Rotary Club of Kwale and Hatch Pest Control and Environmental Service Ltd., in a community Mosquito Control intervention.

“We are focusing to curb the lingering effects of mosquitoes among 300 pregnant and nursing women in Ndokwa West LGA, Kwale, in Delta.

“The intervention is to carry out indoor residual spraying in the home of 300 pregnant and nursing mothers within the Local government and also carry out drainage larviciding of the communities,” he said.

According to him, the initiative is necessitated considering the rising cases of Malaria mortality among pregnant women, nursing mothers and children between ages of 0- five years in Nigeria.

He said that the country , at present, according to World Health Organisation (WHO) records 300,000 deaths annually from malaria and that 30 per cent of childhood deaths as well as 25 per cent of under-one year deaths were caused by malaria and 11 per cent of maternal deaths.

The MD narrated how certain historical preventive actions were taken to curtail mosquitoes during the construction of the Panama canal and how over 22,000 lives were lost during the construction to mosquitoes.

Nwapa said if African countries like Lesotho, Mauritius, Algeria Libya, Egypt, Seychelles, Tunisia had been declared malaria free, then Nigeria could put an end to the over 200, 000 deaths caused by malaria.

“Just this year 2023, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan and Belize have been declared Malaria free by the World Health Organization.

“A country is granted malaria-free certification by WHO when the country proves that it has interrupted indigenous transmission of the disease for at least three consecutive years.

“We urge all tiers of government to immediately mobilise environmental health professionals in coming up with a national environmental health and water management plan that will address drainage and dams construction as well as construction of sanitary landfill among others.

“This development will be as a direct process of fighting mosquito in Nigeria and government should also invest in primary health care and improve remuneration for health workers.

“Government should provide adequate funds for Nigeria vaccine development laboratory, Nigeria Institute of Medical Research, and also establish and adequately fund research centres in universities across the nation.

Our correspondent reports that the organisation has also started a three-day indoor residual spraying in the homes of 300 pregnant and nursing mothers in Ndokwa West Local Government area of Delta.