The World Health Organisation (WHO) says that malaria is a major public health concern in Nigeria, with an estimated 68 million cases and 194,000 deaths due to the disease in 2021. Nigeria has the highest burden of malaria globally, accounting for nearly 27 percent of the global malaria burden.
The Federal Government of Nigeria recently inaugurated the Nigeria End Malaria Council (NEMC), a national initiative aimed at eradicating malaria in Nigeria. The government appointed prominent business leaders Aliko Dangote, Femi Otedola, and Tony Elumelu to lead the initiative.
“Malaria continues to pose a severe challenge in Nigeria, and donor support alone has proven inadequate,” Dr Tunji Alausa, Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare said at the inauguration ceremony of the council in Abuja recently.
In its response, the Environment, Health and Safety Research Group in Centre for Intellectual Property Protection and Commercialisation (CIPPAC), University of Ibadan, organised a two-day awareness and training programme for communities in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
Led by Professor Oladapo Okareh, the team from CIPPAC, over the weekend, visited the Oluyole Local Government Secretariat at Idi-Ayunre and Kube Atenda community to create awareness about mosquitoes and how to control the spread of malaria.
With the theme “Environmental Control of Mosquitoes: A measure for Reducing Malaria at Household Level,” Professor Okareh, who facilitated the training at both communities, shared interesting information about mosquitoe, how they grow, as well debunked certain myths about them.
The people learnt that there are more than 3,500 species of mosquitoes. Apart from malaria, mosquitoes are vectors for several other diseases including filariasis, dengue, dengue fever, yellow fever, among others.
“No matter the species, mosquitoes are always found near water bodies. This is because most stages of their life cycle except the adult stage depends on water. Professor Okareh therefore warned community members to be wary of stagnant water in their surroundings.
“Adult species prefer dark and sheltered places including inside closets, behind curtains or under furniture. They also rest on surfaces that are vertical,” he said.
Why does it seem that some people are more prone to mosquito bites than others? Does it depend on their complexion?
Professor Okareh busted these myths saying that indeed persons with certain blood groups are more attractive to mosquitoes than others.
According to him, blood type O is most attractive to mosquitoes, blood type B comes second in preference while blood group A is the least attractive to mosquitoes.
He added that complexion has nothing to do with whether a person gets bitten by mosquitoes or not. However, habits such as drinking alcohol can cause an individual to be more attracted to mosquitoes. He said wearing dark colours attracts mosquitoes more because they absorb more heat than light coloured ones.
He said there a number of things to do to minimise being bitten by mosquitoes. One is to take a bath before going to bed. The use of mosquito nets and choosing the right kind of mosquito repellents are also beneficial.
Professor Okareh, however, warned that it was wrong to spray odourless mosquito insecticide and remain in that environment. “People assume that because it is odourless then it is okay to remain in the room after spraying it. This is wrong. It is harmful to human health.”
Professor Okareh noted that malaria cases are more prevalent “in the rainy season we are in now. We are aware of cases where people take anti-malaria drugs and it does not work. We are also aware of the need for people to take environmental control such as clearing of bushes and all that which most people don’t do. Our programme is to sensitise people that there is need for us to undertake environmental sanitation and even personal hygiene. This programme with selected local governments is to improve the public health status of the community.
He added that “the feedback was good. The participation was encouraging. The people were asking us to come again. This programme will continue as long as we have support.” The programme which was supported by LG Electronics saw the distribution of free mosquito nets to community members and the donation of anti-mosquito air conditioners.
The chairman of Oluyole Local Government Area, Akeem Olatunji, who attended the training programme along with his executives and representatives of each of the 10 wards in the local government, said: “Oluyole is in the less city area of Ibadan; that is the rural part of Ibadan. Our people are exposed to mosquito bites. We have prevailing cases of malaria. With this kind of training programme has created awareness. As they say, prevention is better than cure. I believe that malaria is avoidable. If we follow all the directions given to us at the programme, it will go a long way in reducing malaria infections in Oluyole Local Government. We can nip malaria in the bud. Malaria treatments have gulped a substantial part of federal, state and even local government budget. I am very happy that our local government was selected for this training.”
Elder Abraham Odeyele, the chairman of Kube Atenda community said, “This is a fantastic programme. Many of our people complain of not being able to access mosquito nets. But with this programme, that has changed.”
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