Ogun offers residents free malaria test, drugs

The Ogun state government says it is providing free test and anti-malaria drugs in all its health facilities in the bid to tackle malaria in the state.

The Director, Public Health Department, Ministry of Health, Dr. Festus Soyinka,

said this on Friday in Abeokuta during a sensitization walk to commemorate the 2019 World Malaria Day with the theme: ‘’Zero malaria starts with me; join me.’’

According to Soyinka, the malaria parasite is transmitted to people through bites of the female Anopheles mosquito and described malaria as one of the life-threatening diseases in the world, adding that it is preventable and curable if reported at an early stage.

Soyinka said that the disease had been responsible for the deaths of many children under the age of five and pregnant women. The director enjoined members of the public to be hygienically sensitive by ridding their environment of stagnant water.

“The most effective and inexpensive way to prevent the transmission is sleeping under long lasting insecticidal treated nets,” he said.

Speaking earlier, a former President of Oke-Ona Rotary Club, Fausiat Harun, said the fight against malaria should not be left to government alone.

She called on other stakeholders, especially well-meaning Nigerians, to partner with government in order to tackle the disease.