OYO State government, in collaboration with the Malaria Consortium, provided 307,167 children, aged three to 59 months, with medicines for malaria prevention between June and October in six local government areas.
This intervention, which is the seasonal malaria prevention, targets children living in its sahel belt at the peak periods of disease transmission.
The seasonal malaria transmission peaks during the rainy season in Saki East, Saki West, Olorunsogo, Irepo, Surulere and Ogbomoso North local government areas.
Speaking at the Ministry of Health seasonal malaria chemoprophylaxis end of round 2023 state dissemination meeting in Ibadan, Malaria Consortium Oyo State Programme Manager, Mrs Taiwo Olarinde, said the children had been treated with approximately 1.545 million doses of the two antimalarial medicines (sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine and amodiaquine) across five cycles.
Mrs Olarinde declared that children between the ages of three and 59 months who are not ill, not on any other sulphur-containing medications, or have an allergy to the chemical contents of the malaria medicines and who have not taken these drugs in the last month are eligible for the intervention.
According to her, the children were given the doses of the medicines under the direct observation of the caregiver and supervision of community drug distributors who move from house to house during the exercise in the six designated local government areas.
She declared, “We were able to reach 99 percent of the children in this target population. A comparative of the baseline analysis from 2021 before seasonal malaria chemoprophylaxis started and now shows an almost 40 percent decline in malaria incidence among children aged three to 59 months across the six LGAs.
“We are also looking at improving this further next year when we also plan to support the state in the implementation of another round of seasonal malaria chemoprophylaxis.
“We are looking at other means of intervention, perhaps perennial malaria chemo-prevention and consistent use of insecticidal treated nets for all the other LGAs, all in a bid to ensure that malaria morbidity and mortality decline from 45 percent, its current incidence in the state, to as low as 10 percent.”
Permanent Secretary, Oyo State Ministry of Health, Dr Kehinde Ayinde, said Nigeria and three other African countries contribute to more than 50 percent of the global malaria mortality, with children and pregnant women as the most vulnerable groups.
He declared that evidence suggested that children that received seasonal malaria chemoprophylaxis have an over 75 percent likelihood of not having malaria in a year, and this has been proven to be so, even in the participating six local government areas in Oyo State.
While assuring the government’s support in further reducing the prevalence of malaria in the state, Dr Ayinde urged Malaria Consortium to bring its innovation in malaria programming to support other public health initiatives to curb malaria in other age groups across the state.
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