Gov Abdulrazaq Launches Distribution Of Treated Mosquito Nets

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Governor  Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq has flagged off house-to-house distribution of 2.3million insecticide-treated mosquito nets (ITNs) which the state received from Global Funds.

This was one of the results of its payment of relevant counterpart funds.

The governor said at the event that more than 50 percent of health complications reported across public hospitals were after-effects of poorly treated malaria-related cases.

He promised to sustain commitment to the global fight against malaria which has been described by  experts as number one killer in sub-Saharan Africa. The event was held at the open field of the Government House, Ilorin.

AbdulRazaq  also said his administration has paid huge counterpart funds to key into various initiatives that would afford people of the state access to basic healthcare, including the recently launched free malaria programme.

‘A little over one year ago, we invested millions of naira in paying counterpart funds to key into various basic healthcare programmes.     N82m of that amount was meant for the anti-malaria initiative of the Global Fund. What we have in return are 2.3million insecticide treated nets worth over N3.3bn, among other socioeconomic benefits.

Today, we are flagging off the house-to-house distribution of these nets across our state. To do this, we have engaged at least 5,000 persons who will get paid for doing so.

Malaria is a major killer disease in sub-Saharan Africa. It has also proven to have adverse economic effects. This is why we are so interested in fighting it. However, it is cheaper to prevent malaria than treating  it. One major way of preventing the killer disease is the use of insecticide- treated nets. It is safe for use and I urge our people to use it’ he said.

The Governor later handed units of the ITNs to some families before proceeding to sleep in a demo mosquito-netted bed at the event — a symbolic gesture to demonstrate the safety of the ITN and encourage citizens to use them.