#EndMalariaInNigeria: Pastor E.A Adeboye Commended For Speaking Out
The “#EndMalariaInNigeria” campaign has commended the position of General Overseer of Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) that Malaria’s impact on Nigeria is 100 times that of COVID-19.
The campaign quoted him, saying, “He said: ‘I read in the newspaper that in 2021 the number of people who died of malaria in Nigeria was about 200, 000 and the number of people who died of Coronavirus in the same year is less than 2000’ he questioned which one is more deadly, coronavirus or malaria?”
Francis Nwapa, The Managing Director of Hatch Pest Control and Environmental Service Ltd/Convener #EndMalariaInNigeria, stated, “from all indication, the government has abandoned the populace who does not have access to qualitative medical service and properly planned society in terms of modern infrastructural development to their fate. Malaria medication has become huge economic burden on the poor working class of Nigeria.
“#EndMalariaInNigeria reiterates and calls on Nigerian Government to adopt the resolutions reached by the movement at our last program tagged ‘Mosquito Talk’ held on 25th of April 2022 to commemorate the World Malaria Day. The communique, made available to the media, states: That government has a vital role to play in eradicating malaria in Nigeria and government should prioritise preventive rather than curative measures as a panacea to ending malaria in Nigeria;
“That promoting Insecticide Treated Net, ITN, as a means of malaria control in Nigeria is cosmetic without rolling back Mosquitoes and having good governance that can address the problem of mass poverty, citing poor housing structures, poor power supply as a reason why ITN cannot replace sanitation and proper water management to discouraging breeding site for mosquitos as a means of controlling malaria in Nigeria;
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“On Malaria Vaccine, the panel resolved that administering malaria vaccine without eliminating mosquito breeding sites will amount to putting the cart before the horse. The introduction of COVID-19 vaccine has revealed that those vaccinated are still at risk of contacting the virus if safety measures are not observed and as such it’s important to first resolve Nigeria’s poor environmental and public health deficits so that vaccine can be a complementary measure of malaria control;
“There must be political intervention to guarantee total roll back of malaria and mosquito by provision of good governance that can eradicate mass poverty since study has shown that the poorer the people are, the higher the incidence of malaria due to overpopulation, squalor, and clustering of poor people in unplanned slums and urban ghetto without proper public health sanitation, drainage and waste disposal system.
“To achieve primary health focused good governance, citizens should exercise their civic right wisely by voting for political parties and candidates that will make the health of citizens a priority; That government should declare a State of Emergency on Malaria, an endemic disease that has claimed highest casualties in human lives than Covid-19. HIVAIDS in Nigeria. As a step in this direction, all tiers of government must make water and waste management a priority by ensuring total reconstruction of all drainages in Nigeria in such a way that breeding mosquito sites are eliminated and an end to poor waste management;
“Design a National Road Map to ending Malaria in Nigeria and be committed to its 100 per cent implementation. As part of practical measure in achieving this road map, Environmental Health Professionals should be appointed to head environmental health decision bodies and ministries in all tiers of government; and mass mobilisation through the conventional and social media is a necessary tool to drive public enlightenment for citizen personal intervention, personal hygiene and environmental sanitation to end improper refuse disposal, throwing pet bottles, nylons etc from the vehicles or dropping them on the road and an end to open defecation.”
