Nasarawa to protect over 1 million children from malaria with free preventive drugs.
More than one million children under the age of five in Nasarawa State are set to receive free malaria prevention drugs as part of efforts to eliminate the disease.
The State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Gaza Gwamna, announced this in Lafia during a press briefing ahead of the fifth round of the Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) campaign.
Dr. Gwamna said the exercise will cover all 13 local government areas of the state, with support from the Malaria Consortium and the World Health Organisation (WHO).
“We have reduced the malaria burden from 60 per cent at the state’s creation in 1996 to 15 per cent today,” he stated.
To ensure smooth implementation, he disclosed that 11,247 ad-hoc staff, including community drug distributors, town announcers, supervisors, and health workers have been trained and mobilised.
The commissioner urged residents to undergo testing before seeking treatment, warning that not all fevers are caused by malaria. He also advised the consistent use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets, describing them as one of the most effective prevention methods.
In his remarks, the State Programme Manager for Malaria Consortium, Kassim Musa-Khalid, said the 2025 campaign commenced in June and expressed optimism that Nasarawa would achieve its malaria elimination targets with sustained stakeholder support.
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