In an effort to prevent Malaria in the state, the Oyo government in partnership with Malaria Consortium,has launched the second phase of the Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention Campaign ( SMC).
The Coordinator of the programme,Gideon Alade made this known in a statement in Ibadan on Saturday as part of highlights for the second phase of the Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention distribution which commenced on Friday, June 16.
The programme,he said, had been inaugurated in the Saki Local Government Area of the state with the aim of preventing malaria in children under 5 years and pregnant women.
The statement quoted the Permanent Secretary, of the State Ministry of Health, Olusoji Adeyanju as reiterating Governor Seyi Makinde-led administration’s commitment to significantly reduce malaria cases in the state particularly in children under 5 years adding that children under the age bracket were expected to take chemoprevention drugs monthly for five months.
“The second round of Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention distribution commenced on June 16, 2023, and will last till Monday, June 19, 2023.
“Distribution will be carried out monthly for four days each month. The drugs will be repeated every 28 days from June to October 2023.
“The present drugs SPAQ that will be distributed are free, and they do not cure malaria, but they prevent Malaria. It doesn’t work alone; we have to ensure that our children also sleep inside the net. Our environment should be clean without mosquito breeding sites.”
Adeyanju said so far, about 290,000 children have been covered by the distribution which began last year and recorded significant reduction in malaria cases.
“The implementation commenced last year with an overall coverage of 102 per cent in which about 290,000 children were reached.”
The Malaria prevention project is to be administered in six local government areas with the highest malaria cases in the state..
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