Maternal, Child Deaths: Obaseki Distributes 2.6m Insecticidal Nets in Edo

Obaseki giving out nets to nursing mothers and pregnant women 

…FG, WHO, Catholic Body Laud Effort
Rebecca Ejifoma
In line with saving mothers and babies, thereby reducing the rate of maternal and infant deaths to malaria, the Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has flagged off the distribution of 2.6 million long lasting insecticidal nets with a call on households to ensure they sleep under the nets to eradicate malaria from the state.

The event tagged, ‘Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLINs) Replacement Campaign’, organised by the Edo State Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Catholic Relief Service (C.R.S), attracted both local and international stakeholders in the health sector, who lauded the Obaseki-led administration for putting health care on the front burner.

Assuring Edo people of “well articulated policies on public health issues”, the governor stressed that “a healthy society is a wealthy society”. He advised that a proactive approach like sleeping under the nets was cheaper than treating the disease.
He further said that his administration had set a 100 per cent distribution target for the insecticidal nets from the current 86 per cent.

Now, the Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, said Edo State had been in the fore front and continues to make giant strides in keeping up with malaria elimination intervention. “The presence of Governor Obaseki at the event showed his resilience in the fight to eliminate malaria and improve the health of the people in the state.”

Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, his wife Mrs Betsy Obaseki and the Deputy Governor, Rt. Hon Philip Shaibu at the flag-off of the distribution of insecticidal mosquito nets in Benin City on Friday.

Represented by the Director of Public Health in the ministry, Dr. Evelyn Ngige, he added that the state occupies a strategic position in the country and maintained that “If we succeed in the replacement of the LLINs in Edo State, it will translate to rapid scale up of our overall national coverage target.”

The minister assured the indigenes that the federal government would continue to collaborate with Edo State to win the war against the disease and promote the use of modern technology to fast-track distribution of LLINs.

Speaking at the flag off, First Lady of Edo State, Mrs. Betsy Obaseki, who was installed as the Ambassador of the Roll Back Malaria campaign in the state, expressed that the LLINs was an effective way to control the spread of malaria by mosquitoes.
Drawing from her personal experience, she said she was taught by her parents early in life to always sleep under nets and that the practice kept her and her siblings free from malaria for the most parts of their childhood.

(Right) The First Lady of Edo State, Mrs. Betsy Obaseki; The governor of the state, Mr. Godwin Obaseki; The Secretary to the State Government, Osarodion Ogie Esq. and one of the moderators during the flag-off of the distribution of insecticidal mosquito nets in Benin City on Friday.

“From the time I started opening my eyes as a child, I have always slept under mosquito nets and I remember that my father at that time will go round all our beds where we slept as children to ensure that our nets were well tucked under the mattresses. This did not only keep us free from malaria, it also created a strong bond between us and our father,” Mrs. Obaseki said.

The Edo State Coordinator, World Health Organisation (WHO), Ms Faith Ireye, said that efforts by Obaseki’s administration in the health sector have ensured that young children and pregnant women have access to life saving prevention tool such as the LLINs.

She, however, decried that malaria remained a daily threat and noted that with commitments from governments such as the Edo State Government, private sector and communities working together with development partners, the disease would be eradicated from the country.

In his remark, Acting Country Representative of CRS in Nigeria, Dr. Emeka Anoje, said Edo government has demonstrated that it is a dependable and reliable partner in the campaign against malaria through the provision of operational funds to support planning and logistics of the distribution of the LLINs.

The Commissioner for Health, Edo State, Dr. David Osifo, said prevention was key to the reduction of the burden of malaria which accounts for approximately 11 per cent maternal mortality and 30 per cent mortality in children of less than five years.
He added that health officers would be at all the distribution points in the state to teach people how to use the nets that would last three years.