According to United Nations for Child Mortality Education, 91,250 children under the age of 5 die of malaria each year, 60% of people who visit the hospital are diagnosed with malaria and 4 out of 5 people are at risk of contracting malaria in Nigeria.
In continuation of its fight against Malaria and as part of activities marking this year’s World Malaria Day, Reckitt Nigeria, makers of Mortein insecticide Brand, has Introduced it’s “Mortein Fight to End Malaria” campaign, and joined forces with the Ogun State Government and the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP), to support in the education and awareness of malaria prevention in Nigeria.
The partnership with Ogun State was announced at a joint press briefing by the Ogun State Ministry of Health and Reckitt to commemorate the 2021 World Malaria Day (WMD) held at the State Ministry of Health in Abeokuta.
As part of the partnership with Ogun State, this year’s drive to eliminate malaria is designed to be achieved through several platforms: On-ground market and Community engagement activities, Digital Education and Radio engagement. Going forward, the partnership also expects to evolve to include various other initiatives including sustained efforts through malaria programmes in schools.
Speaking at the 2021 World Malaria Day press briefing in Ogun State, Marketing Director of Reckitt Nigeria, Mr. Tanzim Rezwan said that the community engagement and collaborations are part of numerous Purpose driven initiatives by Mortein to stem the prevalence of malaria scourge in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.
He continued, “At Reckitt, every day, in everything we do, we’re driven by our purpose; to protect, heal and nurture in the relentless pursuit of a cleaner, healthier world. Mortein, as a leading global insecticide brand, works on a mission to enable and empower our consumers with knowledge and expert solutions to rid themselves of vector borne diseases such as malaria. In that spree, we not only try to bring in the world class products to the consumers but also aspire to drive awareness on preventive measures.”
In her remarks, Commissioner for Health in Ogun State, Dr. Tomi Coker, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr. Ayinde Adesanya expressed appreciation to all partners to ensure that proven interventions are deployed towards Malaria elimination in the state.
“I wish to appreciate the assistance rendered by our partners – especially Reckitt, makers of Mortein insecticide and donor agencies and I call for the support and cooperation of all and sundry to ensure that all aspects of malaria elimination programmes are addressed and are well funded for the benefit of all and particularly our children and pregnant mothers”, he said.
It is pertinent to note that Mortein also joined National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) for 2021 World Malaria Day activities in a social media campaign to sensitize the general public on Malaria prevention and testing. Mortein is also looking forward to work out a sustainable campaign in future to drive the partnership with more actions towards ‘Fight to end Malaria’ in Nigeria.
