Mohammed Shosanya
The Niger Delta Development Commission NDDC, on Saturday conducted free Malaria rapid diagnostic tests in Ogu Community, Ogu/Bolo Local Government Area of Rivers State of scores of residents including pregnant women and senior citizens.
The development was in commemoration of the annual World Malaria Day, observed globally on May 25,
The NDDC also distributed several Mosquito-treated nets, food, beverages, water and also Malaria drugs to residents who tested positive for the parasites, after sensitising the people.
Speaking after the sensitisation and items distribution, which took place at the Ogu community town hall, the Managing Director of the NDDC, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, said the intervention was timely following the peoples clamour for help.
Ogbuku,who was represented by Dr. Asela Agala, commission’s Assistant Director, Education/Health/Social Services, noted that the programme was part of its efforts to ensure that vulnerable people are protected from Malaria infection.
Ogbuku said: “We came here to sensitise the people about the dangers of Malaria, how to manage and ways to prevent it. Malaria kills many of our children between zero to five years and pregnant women.
“This sensitisation should have been done in Port Harcourt, but we felt people in the rural communities need it more. Our target is the communities, you know that in the cities, our doors and windows are netted, but in the rural area they don’t know about that.
“Pregnant women in the cities go for antenatal, but in the communities, because of inaccessibility to health care, we decided to go to tje people.”
Earlier,an Obstetrician, Gynaecologist with the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital and doubles as a lecturer at the Rivers State University, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Dr. George Ella, while sensitising the people on the dangers of Malaria and ways to prevent it, emphasised the importance of seeking proper medical care after being infected by Malaria.
Dr. Ella,stressed that pregnant women and infants are more susceptible to Malaria parasite infection, following their fragile immune system, hence the crucial need for the people to keep their environment clean and ensure that their drainages flowing, adding that doing so would eliminate breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
“First and foremost for Malaria prevention, pregnant woman must sleep under insecticide treated net and secondly, they must must take preventive therapy, there’s what we call intermittent preventive therapy for malaria which is done with the use of Sulfadoxine pyrimethamine, a drug that is commonly known as Fansidar given to pregnant women of about four months every four weeks until they deliver.
“So women should take advantage of that, but for those who actually come down with malaria must receive treatment in a hospital, because sometimes malaria can cause miscarriage or death of the baby inside the womb because the immunity of the pregnant woman is lower and so they are highly vulnerable to malaria attacks.
“Those that are not pregnant need to also prevent malaria by sleeping inside a mosquito treated net, then of course environmental sanitation is very important, you must keep the drainages flowing, so people must avoid throwing their dirts and rubbish inside the drainages, our environment must be kept clean because dirty environment makes room for mosquitoes breeding grounds which would in turn bite people in their homes and transmit malaria germs,” he added.
One of the beneficiaries identified as Mrs. Rose Sokari, thanked the NDDC Managing Director, Dr Samuel Ogbuku and Boma Iyaye, the Executive Director, Finance and Administration of the NDDC, for bringing the medical intervention to their community.
She prayed God to bless and grant the organisers more wisdom to fulfill their assignments in the NDDC.
She added:“I am very very happy and grateful for this programme today that NDDC has remembered Ogu through Boma Iyaye. We thank God for that.
“Those that sponsored the programme, may God bless them and give them more knowledge and wisdom, let God fill their pockets and may such programmes always come to us.”
