Nigerians hold sensitisation walk on Malaria  

Nigerians hold sensitisation walk on Malaria  
Rafat Salami, Abuja

Nigerians in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, have embarked on an awareness and sensitisation walk to increase public consciousness on the devastating effects of malaria, as part of a weeklong activity to mark this year’s World malaria Day.

The minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, who led the awareness walk, called on Nigerians to promptly seek medical care when suffering from malaria, and also urged people to take steps to prevent malaria.

Proactive measure

More than one thousand people were also tested for malaria and those found positive were given free anti-malarial drugs.

As part of efforts to reduce the burden of malaria, the Nigerian government in partnership with the Global Fund last month rolled out subsidized anti-malarial drugs - the Artemisinin based Combination Therapy ACT.

Now the drugs cost 75.00 Naira for a complete adult dose as against the one thousand naira it used to cost.

The theme of this year’s commemoration of the World Malaria Day is “Achieving Progress and Impact” with the slogan, “Play Your Part”.

Qasim