As the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and Delta State Government in collaboration with Gilbert Hill Foundation mark the World Malaria Day, a call has been made for people to avoid self medication and use of local herbal concoctions in treating malaria.
Rather, when symptoms of malaria manifest, remedies should be sought at hospitals where appropriate and efficacious antimalarial drugs can be obtained and administered.
At a ceremony to mark the World Malaria Day in Warri on Wednesday, residents were warned to stop self medication in their quest to tackle the disease, especially with traditional medicine.
NDDC’s Assistant Director, Education, Health and Social Services, Mrs. Irene Emavwodia, said people should stop patronising traditional remedy. “Do not use ‘agbo’. Don’t go to roadside chemists to obtain drugs that don’t always work”, she admonished at the event.
Against the backdrop of the emergence of various strains of malaria that are resistant to popular drugs, Emavwodia said there is need for proper checkup prior to taking of drugs when symptoms of manifest.
Similarly, Malaria Programme Manager, Delta State, Dr. Julie Aniah, advised against self medication. She said symptoms of malaria include weakness, vomitting and miscarriages in pregnant women, adding that there is the tendency for people to fall into coma when body temperature is high. “Malaria is not your friend”, she noted.
As part of preventive measures to tackle malaria, Dr. Aniah said the residents should keep their environment clean by de-silting their gutters and clear stagnant water in their areas. She also urged Deltans to regularly fumigate their environment.
Aniah also urged residents to install insecticide treated mosquitoe nets in their homes and procure only prescribed drugs from certified pharmacists.
In his address, the Delta State Health Promotion Officer/Social Mobilisation Coordinator, Ministry of Health, Asaba, Odejerho Odejerho, highlighted the dangers of malaria, urging people in riverine communities to use insecticide treated mosquito nets given to them to proper use. He decried the attitude of some people who convert them to nets for fishing, warning that anybody caught using insecticide treated mosquito nets for fishing and farming will be prosecuted according to the law.
The Executive Secretary, Warri South Council, Dr. Tosan Sagay, commended the NDDC and the Delta State Government for the sustained fight against malaria, but said that more still needs to be done.
The theme for this year’s World Malaria Day celebration is “Accelerating the fight against malaria for a more equitable world.”
The event featured a walk from King George Centenary Hall through Warri South Council to Main Market, Igbo Market to Robert Road.
