Plateau State Government, has acquired and kept in stock over four million(4m) doses of Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) ready for immunising children under the age of 5 spread across the 325 Wards of the State.
Governor Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang, disclosed this at the official flag off of the 2024 Seasonal Malaria Chemprevention (SMC), held at the Obasanjo Model School Jos, the State capital Wednesday.
The Governor, represented by the State Commissioner of Health, Dr. Cletus Bako Shurkuk, said, “Malaria is the third leading cause of death among under-five children, after pneumonia and diarrhoea. “Nigeria accounts for 3 out of 10 deaths caused by malaria in the world and the disease is more common during raining season and it can kill children if not prevented or treated on time.
“But we are glad that there are so many ways available for the prevention of malaria in Children. These include sleeping inside Insecticide Treated Net (ITN) and Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC).
“As one of the national strategies to reduce the burden of malaria in the country and in our dear state, the Government of Plateau State in partnership with the Federal
Ministry of Health through the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP),
and Malaria Consortium have intensified efforts to increase access to SMC which
is cost-efective.
“The use of SMC has proven to be one of the most effective malaria preventive interventions. Today, the Government of Plateau State, with support from Malaria Consortium, officially flags off this campaign to signal the commencement of the distribution: SPAQ to children under-5 spread across the 325 wards in the state”, he highlighted.
To ensure a successful SMC campaign, Mutfwang, further disclosed that the state government has approved the use of over 800 health facilities and deployed over l1,000 ad-hoc staff as well as provided counterpart funding to ensure the smooth running
of the campaigns.
“Let me use this medium to call on all traditional and religious leaders across the State to support our crusade in the fight against malaria, and all other public
health challenges.The time has come and the Time Is Now for us to champion a malaria-free Plateau State; you are expected to play your part by ensuring that our children are protected”, he assured.
Earlier, Executive Secretary of the Plateau State Drugs and Medical Commodities Management Board (PSDCMB), Pharm. Kim Jerry Bot, confirmed the possession of drugs and disclosed that the exercise was going to last from June to October this year.
“We received in SPAQ one, one million, seven three doses, SPAQ two; we received about two million, nine hundred and sixty doses. Meaning that, we have over four million doses for over four million children in Plateau State already and we have received them in our Wearhouse”, he revealed.
On his part, the Programme Manager of the State Malaria Elimination Programme, Nurse Adak Kizito Guhumnan, said, the Programme would start today June 27 to 30, 2024 with ad-hoc staff going house-to-house to administer those medication and would last for four days.
He explained that, “this is tell the public that, His Excellency, Governor Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang, is interested in preventing not only the malaria, but mortality rate among the under 5 years children”.
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