The Federal Ministry of Health has launched new national guidelines for implementation, to eliminate malaria and lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis) in the country.
A statement issued by Senior Information Officer in the Federal Ministry of Health, Markus Mangai, quoted the Minister of Health, Prof. C.O. Onyebuchi Chukwu, who was represented by the Director of Public Health, Dr. Bridget Okuagwale, as saying that the combined nationwide strategy “is the first of its kind in Africa and will allow the federal and state Ministries of Health to efficiently protect all Nigerians from the two mosquitoes transmitted parasitic diseases.”
The minister, who launched the guideline yesterday in Abuja, noted that though these diseases were preventable and treatable, they still constitute major public health problem in the country and a barrier to social and economic development.
He stressed that impact studies had shown that the distribution of long-lasting insecticidal treated nets (LLINs) to prevent human mosquito contacts, have shown decline of lymphatic filariasis prevalence, adding that the use of community directed approaches by the two programs would help to fast track the process of the elimination of both diseases.
The minister also said malaria was a potentially fatal mosquito-borne parasitic disease that kills an estimated 655,000 people, mostly children worldwide each year.
He pointed out that “Nigeria has the world’s largest malaria burden, containing nearly one-third of the crisis in Africa.”
Chukwu said the federal and state Ministries of Health currently use integrated vector management, including long lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs), indoor residential spraying, and environmental management to combat malaria in Nigeria, adding that that the “programme also strives to provide prompt and effective diagnosis and treatment for malaria.”
