The Women-for-Women Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation, on Sunday, August 19, 2018 began the sensitisation of Almajiris and other destitutes in Kaduna on ways to prevent malaria and other diseases caused by an unclean environment.
Chairperson of the foundation, Dr Maryam Abubakar, said the campaign was part of activities designed by the organisation to mark the 2018 World Mosquito Day.
She said that the focus was on the poor, who are prone to all forms of diseases due to their poor economic status and inability to properly safeguard their health.
Abubakar stressed that once people are knowledgeable about preventive measures, it would be easier for them avoid situations that would make them victims of mosquito bites and malaria.
According to her, malaria remains a major health problem in Nigeria and causes death and illness in children and adults, especially pregnant women.
“This is also a way to see how they can contribute toward raising awareness to other children, in order to prevent them against all forms of diseases associated with mosquito,” she said.
Abubakar, who is also the Medical Director, Fatimah Clinic in Kaduna, said the fight against malaria in Nigeria requires collective action including awareness of where mosquitoes breed, feed, host and where they rest in order to design appropriate control measures.
She noted that hundreds of Nigerian children and women die annually from malaria caused by mosquito bite, but said continued intervention by UNICEF, WHO, Federal Government and other humanitarian organisations have reduced the threat.
Mohammed Zakariyya, Director, African Climate Reporters, said in his comments at the event that the measure taken by the foundation was novel as it targeted the most vulnerable in the society to impart knowledge to them on protection against malaria.
According to him, malaria remains a major public health problem in the country causing deaths and illnesses in children and adults. He tasked the Ministry of Environment to double its efforts in tackling environmental issues breeding mosquitoes.
Observed annually on August 20, the World Mosquito Day is a commemoration of British doctor Sir Ronald Ross‘s discovery in 1897 that female mosquitoes transmit malaria between humans. Ross is responsible for the annual observance, having declared shortly after his discovery that the day should be known as World Mosquito Day in the future.
