As part of its commitments to ensuring that the prevalence of malaria in the country is reduced to the barest, the Pest Control Association of Nigeria (PCAN) has urged the government and other relevant stakeholders to focus on preventive measures rather than treatment of the disease.
The Association stressed that even as the world commemorates this year’s Malaria Day, if the environmental causes, especially poor sanitation, are tackled, fewer Nigerians will fall ill or die from the disease.
During its visit to the Destined Children’s Orphanage in Abuja, to provide them with several commodities and health services, the Chairman of the Pest Control Association of Nigeria FCT chapter, Terungwa Abari, said: “Malaria is a scourge that has been killing humanity more than any other thing in the world. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) statistics, in 2020 alone, malaria infected about over 260 million people, and over 600,000 lost their lives, and half of that was in five African countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, with Nigeria recording the highest number.
“In the midst of all these grim statistics, we really need to put more attention on malaria, and better ways it can be controlled. A lot of attention has been paid to bringing drugs and insecticide-treated nets, and setting up clinics, among others, but we feel more attention has to be paid to subsided management and sanitation because that is where it starts from. We want to call the attention of the government to these strategies in controlling the malaria vector.
“Mosquitoes breed in areas where there is stagnant water. If you go around the FCT, you will see a lot of stagnant gutters and drainages; we are literally breeding the mosquitoes. Therefore, as professionals, the government has to partner with us to ensure that all these conditions are eliminated. This is a more holistic approach than waiting for people to get malaria before we treat them.”
The Director of the Destined Children’s Orphanage, Chukwuemeka Emerson, praised the initiative of the Association, especially its long-reaching effects to reduce the frequency at which the children in the orphanage, as well as community members fall sick from malaria.