The Akwa Ibom government has commended the United States for extending the American President’s Malaria Initiative to cover the state, describing the plans to eliminate malaria in Africa by 2030 as a worthy cause.
Governor Udom Emmanuel stated this while playing host to Marian Wentworth, president/CEO of Management Services for Health, who led a team of her officials on a courtesy visit to the governor in Uyo.
Represented by his deputy, Moses Ekpo, the governor lauded the US government for always being at the forefront in seeking solutions to humanity’s intractable challenges.
He described malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa as a monumental scourge that has led to deaths and hoped that with the American presidential initiative, the search for a solution to malaria has assumed utmost priority from significant quarters.
The governor described malaria as one of the most devastating killers in Africa and saw the American initiative as one of the positive fall-outs that Nigeria and other African nations have continued to enjoy from its diplomatic relations with the United States.
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He noted that given the contemporary developments in medical research, there was a need to improve upon diagnostic technology for the disease as well as the development of more potent medicare to eradicate the scourge.
Earlier, Wentworth commended the Akwa Ibom State government for making significant improvements in its malaria control programme.
She noted that as one of the major NGO’s supporting the U.S President’s Malaria Initiative, it has supported malaria delivery services in 482 health facilities through training, supervision and mentoring of healthcare providers in the 31 local government areas of the state.
Wentworth disclosed that with the ongoing efforts, her team has recorded 99.4 percent fewer cases of malaria while 99.95 percent of those who tested positive for malaria received an ACT for treatment, and described the figures as a significant improvement in the fight against the scourge.
The Akwa Ibom government has concluded plans to distribute insecticide-treated nets to every household in the state as part of efforts to prevent malaria with the support of the US agency for international development.
