The Kano State Ministry of Health (KSMoH) in partnership with the National Malaria Elimination Program (NMEP) has commenced the distribution of 8.8 million Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs) across 44 local government areas in Kano.
The ITN distribution which was flagged off on Wednesday at the Gaya Emirate by the Kano state Governor Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje alongside the Integrated Yellow Fever Vaccination Campaign was also supported by the Catholic Relief Mission and the Society for Family Health (SFH)
While reiterating the administration’s commitment to the eradication of malaria in the state, the deputy Governor Dr Nasiru Gawuna who represented Ganduje noted that the campaign will make use of about twenty thousand Adhoc personnel and the nets which are currently being delivered to over three thousand six hundred designated distribution centres across the four hundred and eighty-four wards in Kano.
“The net distribution is a compliment to the ongoing effort by the Kano State Government to improve the health and well-being of the people of the State. The State Government has also approved the monthly procurement and distribution of free malaria commodities for diagnosis and prevention of malaria amongst pregnant women and children,” he stated.
The Governor further noted that more than fourteen million people between nine to forty-four years of age are being targeted to significantly cover a wide population in an effort to develop herd immunity against the Yellow Fever disease with an enhancement of routine immunisation services including Covid-19 vaccination and birth registration.
“I, therefore, call on the people within this age bracket to utilise this golden opportunity by availing themselves to the immunisation posts to get vaccinated as this will contribute to building the needed herd immunity against yellow fever.”
The Minister of Health Dr. Osagie Ehanire who spoke through Mr Festus Okoh, the director FMoH cum head of operations and research SMOER at the ministry pointed out that the utilisation of Insecticide-treated nets amongst children under five years of age has increased from 43.4% in 2015 to 52% in 2018 while that amongst pregnant women increased from 49.0% in 2015 to 58.0 in 2018, these and others have aided the reduction in malaria prevalence from 42.0% in 2010 through 27.0% in 2015 to 23.0% in 2018.
Recall that prior to the ITN flag-off campaign, the ITN campaign partners paid the Kano state government an advocacy visit. Dr Ehanire stated that malaria prevalence in Kano increased from about 27% in 2015 to 32% in 2018.
“However, the current survey result has shown a significant reduction in malaria prevalence in the state. Under the Global Fund Malaria Grant support to Kano, the state malaria commodities 71.5 million USD equivalent to N27bn is being deployed to the state.” He said
Accordingly, John Ocholi, the deputy director of the GF Malaria project, SFH said 100% of the ITNs have been conveyed to all LGAs in the state as they have divided the state into 3684 distribution hubs of which a team of 3 people will go to households to aid easy distribution of the nets.
“The nets will only be distributed in houses and we measure the households by the number of wives where each wife and her children are given an ITN, in a scenario where a household has more than one wife, as it is our duty to make sure that every household has an ITN.” Ocholi explained.
