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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Health & Science

Malaria deaths surpass road accident fatalities in Nigeria, says Akwa Ibom health chief

From The Punch · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • More Nigerians die from malaria complications than from road accidents, according to Akwa Ibom's Health Commissioner.
  • The state plans to distribute 3.9 million insecticide-treated nets to combat malaria.
  • Malaria prevalence in Akwa Ibom has decreased from 29.9% to 15.5%, but remains a significant public health issue.

Malaria claims more lives in Nigeria than road accidents, Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Ekem John, revealed Monday. He emphasized that despite advancements in anti-malaria treatments, the disease continues to be a major killer, causing kidney failure in many cases.

The cheapest thing to do is for the government to build roads and everybody claps, but you see more people die from malaria than they die from road accidents.

· Dr. Ekem JohnAkwa Ibom State Commissioner for Health, highlighting the severity of malaria deaths compared to road accidents.

To combat this persistent threat, the Akwa Ibom government is partnering with the National Malaria Elimination Programme, the United States, and the Against Malaria Foundation. This collaboration aims to distribute 3.9 million insecticide-treated nets free of charge to households across all 31 local government areas of the state.

Even today with all the anti-malaria drugs that we have, people die from malaria rather than roads accidents. There are a lot of people whose kidneys have failed because of malaria complications.

· Dr. Ekem JohnEmphasizing the continued mortality and severe health consequences associated with malaria.

The distribution campaign will occur in two phases. Household registration begins June 1 and runs through June 7, followed by the net distribution from June 20 to June 26. This initiative is part of the state's ongoing efforts to strengthen the fight against malaria.

If you are in the health sector, you will understand the significance of driving down malaria prevalence from 29.9 percent to 15.5 percent.

· Dr. Ekem JohnExplaining the importance of the achieved reduction in malaria prevalence in the state.

Dr. John highlighted the significant progress made, noting that malaria prevalence in Akwa Ibom has dropped from 29.9% to 15.5% according to recent surveys. While celebrating this reduction, he stressed that malaria remains a major public health challenge requiring continued collective action. The state's goal is to achieve malaria elimination status, with a prevalence rate below 5%.

Our goal is to sustain it downward until we attain the malaria elimination status with the prevalence rate of less than 5 percent and then go further to eliminate it. This is possible.

· Dr. Ekem JohnStating the state's long-term objective for malaria control.
About this summary

Originally published by The Punch in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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