By Zainab Olufunmi
Kano State Government is set to distribute about 7.7million Insecticidal-Treated Nets (ITN) in efforts to reduce malaria infections, particularly among mothers and children.
The Kano State Commissioner for Health, Dr Abubakar Labaran, disclosed this on Friday, at a news conference to commemorate the 2025 World Malaria Day in Kano.
The theme for 2025 World Malaria Day is: “Malaria Ends With Us: Reinvest, Reimagine, Reignite.”
Labaran said that all hands must be on deck to ensure a hitch-free distribution, noting that involvement and total commitment of everybody was required in order to get improved results.
He said that the event would serve as an avenue to create awareness about malaria and other related diseases as one of the world’s major public health challenges.
According to him, the focus is to ensure that the state records a zero level in malaria and other related diseases, hence seeking the cooperation of all.
“The state government has lined out plans to administer malaria prevention drugs to over 3.8 million children below the age of five years from July to October.
“At the end of the exercise, we expect that over 75 per cent of malaria cases, including severe malaria incidents, would have been taken care of when complete doses are administered.
“The recent Nigeria Malaria Indicator Survey (NMIS 2021) showed case a decrease in malaria burden from 32.4 per cent to 26 per cent in Kano compared with the previous survey (NMIS 2015) data of 27 per cent to 32.4 per cent,”he said.
The commissioner said that the fight against malaria required stronger collaboration and partnership by all stakeholders, including government, partners, private sector, individual and communities.
He urged the general public to clean their environment and also clear their drains to get rid of stagnant water in gutters, old tyres, among others, which he said, were breeding sites for mosquitoes,
The commissioner said that the state needed to do more awareness on usage of insecticidal-treated nets in the various communities, noting that the sensitisation should not end with acquiring the net alone.
He said that the utilisation of the net was paramount to the state.
“This is because that is when it can have an impact on malaria prevention and reduce the incidence of malaria in the state,” he said.