Govt to administer 3.6m doses of antimalarial drugs

dimeji akinloye

October 25, 2016 9:40 AM

Already, the required number of doses of the drugs had been procured and kept at various medical stores.

Mosquito nets.

The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Balarabe Kakale, said this followed reported outbreak of malaria in some parts of Sokoto town which had led to the death of five persons in a month.

Already, the required number of doses of the drugs had been procured and kept at various medical stores across the state, he said.

The commissioner made this known on Monday in Sokoto, when he led a delegation of officials round the selected health facilities in Sokoto.

Kakale said the drugs would be administered in four phases, with 900,000 doses to be administered in each round.

“Adequate arrangements have been made for a smooth exercise, and appealed to the residents to support government’s efforts to eradicate malaria in the state.

“As you are aware, we recently undertook massive fumigation of mosquitoes’ breeding areas across the state.

“We recorded successes in that front but we are appealing to people to help us by keeping their environments clean.

“In close collaboration with other ministries, we are working to deploy sanitary inspectors that will move to nooks and crannies of the state to ensure compliance to environmental laws,” Kakale said.

He also said that the state government had conducted sensitisation at various health facilities to enlighten residents on the need to adopt preventative measures, while tackling diseases such as malaria.

Meanwhile, the state government has sent a delegation to condole with the families of the five persons who lost their lives due to malaria-related ailments in Sokoto town.

The team was led by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Bashir Garba.

dimeji akinloye