Security personnel at high risk of malaria – Expert

Nigerian security personnel are at high risk of malaria infection, a medical expert, Dr.
Amina Muhammad, has said.
The physician disclosed this while admonishing some security personnel during a free medical outreach by the Islamic Counselling Initiatives of Nigeria (ICIN), in collaboration with NASCO group of companies, held at Riyom Central Primary School in Riyom local government area of Plateau state.
She admonished the personnel to ensure regular checks to ward-off malaria infection.
She said: “The prevalence rate of malaria is quite high, and the world over everybody is talking about eradicating Malaria, however Africa has higher rates, Nigeria inclusive and it has caused a lot of deaths.” Dr.
Muhammad said: “I noticed that a lot of people had malaria,particularly the security personnel, and when I had consultations withthem they confessed that they always slept outside because security work.” She admonished the children to, “always keep your environment clean, don’t keep tyres, cutoff the grasses to prevent malaria infection.” The medical expert then called for continuous support from organisations, stressing that sustainability is the only approach that will ensure absolute eradication of the disease.
ICIN Executive Director, Hajiya, Fatima Suleiman, said in its nine years of collaboration with NASCO, about 15,000 mosquito treated nets as well as vaccines were disbursed to families and communities in some local government areas of the state by the organization.
“We targeted Riyom for this year’s campaign because its people have suffered series of crises and prone to Malaria infections,” she said.