The Kaduna State Government has announced plans to distribute 4.5 million insecticide-treated nets to 1.8 million households as part of its renewed fight against malaria.
The Permanent Secretary of the Kaduna State Ministry of Health, Dr. Aishatu Abubakar-Sadiq disclosed this at a news conference on Wednesday in Kaduna.
She said the exercise, scheduled to run from June 30 to July 3, will be carried out in collaboration with the National Malaria Elimination Programme, Catholic Relief Services, Society for Family Health, and Malaria Consortium.
“The distribution campaign is a major strategy to ensure access to treated mosquito nets, alongside Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC),” she explained.
According to her, Nigeria’s national strategy aims to ensure at least 80 percent of the targeted population have access to vector control tools by 2025.
Abubakar-Sadiq said this year’s campaign would integrate the distribution of SPAQ, a preventive malaria drug, to children aged 3 to 59 months.
“SMC is a lifesaving intervention. We plan to reach about two million children under age five with SPAQ between June and September,” she added.
She also announced that the campaign would include the retrieval of old mosquito nets through the “End of Life of Nets” initiative, aimed at protecting the environment.
“In line with the national targeted distribution strategy, residents are encouraged to return old nets and redeem new ones using their e-tokens at designated distribution points,” she said.
Abubakar-Sadiq urged residents to participate actively in the campaign by bringing their children for malaria prevention drugs and cooperating with health officials.
