World Malaria Day: LAPO offers free mosquito drugs to Lagos community

anopheles mosquito

Anopheles mosquito: vector of the parasite causing malaria in humans

MosquitoLift Above Poverty Organisation (LAPO), a leading poverty focused development institution, has offered free Malaria screening and drugs to over 182 residents of Oke Odo Community in Agbado Oke Odo Local Council Development Authority.

The organisation also distributed Long Lasting Insecticide-treated Nets to the residents as part of its activities to mark the 2016 World Malaria Day.

The programme which took place at the Baale of Oke Odo Palace, was organised by LAPO in collaboration with Agbado Oke-Odo LCDA.

In her address, the Executive Director of LAPO, Ms Sabina Idowu-Osehobo, said the organisation was committed to the empowerment of the poor and vulnerable people through social, health and livelihood programmes.

Represented by Mrs Sandra Asowata, Regional Officer, Surulere Region, LAPO, Idowu-Osehobo said the theme of this year’s event, “Ending Malaria for Good,” was very apt.

She noted that LAPO would continue to collaborate with the Roll Back Malaria Partnership and the Nigeria National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) with the overall objective of ensuring that malaria was brought under complete control.

Idowu-Osehobo said:”Malaria constitutes a huge epidemiologic burden in Africa and continues to cripple economic development in the region.

“The ailment remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality in Nigeria with an all year round transmission with 97 per cent of the population at risk.

” Nigeria also accounts for 32 per cent of the global estimate of 655,000 deaths occasioned by malaria annually.

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“Malaria victims are mostly pregnant women with their unborn babies and children below the age of five.

“Malaria is responsible for 60 per cent outpatient visits to health facilities, 30 per cent childhood death, 25 per cent  of death in children under one year and 11 per cent maternal death in Nigeria.

According to her, Malaria is a major cause of increasing household poverty and slow national development.

“The financial loss due to malaria annually is estimated to be about N132 billion in form of treatment cost, prevention, loss of man-hours etc.

“Yet, the disease is treatable and can be eradicated completely,” she added.

Idowu-Osehobo disclosed that LAPO distributed thousands of treated nets and also  provided free malaria screening services for 39,764 beneficiaries across target communities in 2015.

Also speaking, Mrs Olatunde Omotayo of Environmental Health Department, Agbado Oke Odo LCDA, urged the community members to always keep their environmental clean towards preventing malaria.

Omotayo noted that Malaria killed faster than HIV/AIDS, adding that they should not wait only for environmental sanitation days to clean their surroundings.

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