Every night, hundreds of families in malaria endemic African countries including Nigeria are tormented by tiny mosquitoes. For each mosquito bite, someone is being infected with malaria through the vector-mosquitoes that carries the parasite.
The mosquito buzz is also very irritating as it disturbs sound sleep. Children less than five years and pregnant and nursing mothers alike are the most vulnerable group to mosquito bites.
Malaria is said to account for the highest number of hospitalisation and death among this most vulnerable group and frequent hospital visits by other categories of people.
According to available records, every 60 seconds a child reportedly dies from malaria while 300,000 people mostly infants and women also die from malaria pandemic annually. In Nigeria, malaria disease is responsible for 11 percent of maternal deaths.
In a bid to lessen this burden and reduce malaria prevalence in Nigeria, concerned stakeholders across the public and private sectors are scaling up strategies to contain malaria pandemic. Partnership advocacy initiatives and collaboration that can offer a reprieve are among the steps being explored.
Reckitt Benckiser through its Mortein Anti-Malaria Campaign, a corporate social responsibility initiative, and the Lagos State Government are working together in a renewed effort to combat the disease.
Explaining the rationale behind the synergy, Oguzhan Silivrii, marketing director, West Africa, Reckitt Benckiser (RB), said it was in line with the company’s vision and mission of building healthier and happier homes. He stressed that the intervention was compelling for the firm because malaria poses serious threat to the health of consumers.
Speaking during a series of activities in commemoration of this year’s World Malaria Day (WMD), which was observed globally on April 25, he noted that the partnership advocacy initiative was also aimed at helping to meet the strategic priorities on the eradication of malaria in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.
Silivrili said through the Mortein anti-malaria campaign, RB was at the forefront of approaches that will facilitate the dissemination of adequate education and information on steps mothers and families as a whole can take in order to be protected against the killer disease.
“The vision and mission of RB (Reckitt Benckiser) globally is actually providing consumers healthier lives and happier homes. We began the anti-malaria campaign two years ago and we have made significant progress, and now we are taking it to the next level this year. We are going to 500,000 new mums to educate them because our idea is not just giving the fish, but also educating the people how to fish.”
He explained that combating malaria required a collective action both by government and the private sector. “We will have to educate people how to prevent malaria instead of curbing it. In order to be able to do that we go to mums and we educate them. We go to kids; we educate them, which is the mission we have. Our campaign this year is that even one mosquito bite can cause malaria, so that is why we need to kill hundred percent of the mosquitoes,” Silviril added.
Oladipupo Ogundele, brand manager for Mortein, stated that company’s involvement in the fight against malaria aligned with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) especially with regards child and maternal health.
Ogundele noted that the Mortein anti-malaria campaign was aimed at pushing malaria in the broader development agenda and how it could be tackled because of its linkage to child and maternal welfare and economic development.
Alexander Chiejina
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