By Dare Akogun
The Society for Family Health (SFH) has announced a resounding success in the just concluded integrated mass campaign on Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) and insecticide-treated nets (ITN) in Kwara State.
Speaking during the debriefing program on the Malaria campaign in Ilorin on Tuesday, the team lead and director of technical and program of the Society for Family Health (SFH), Mr. John Ocholi, revealed that the campaign achieved an impressive 99 percent success rate.
In a report presented at the meeting, based on the integrated campaign platform, he said that a total number of 2,356,624 ITNs were distributed among a total number of 771,035 households that were reached and mobilized.
While he said that the distribution of the nets was ongoing, Ocholi added that the actual number of nets distributed was 2,376,257, representing 99 percent distribution.
He also described the administration rate of SPAQ as 89.5 percent, saying that the total number of SPAQs distributed was 573,841.
“The total number of children reached in cycle 4 is 504,106, and the total number of SPAQ 1 administered in cycle 4 is 104,319, while the total number of SPAQ 2 administered in cycle 4 is 469,522”, he said.
Mr. Ocholi expressed his satisfaction with the campaign’s outcome, stating, “The success rate of 99 percent is a testament to the dedication and hard work of everyone involved in the campaign, from our team at SFH to the local communities that actively participated.
“This achievement is a significant step towards our goal of eliminating malaria in Kwara State. Operationally, ITNs were allocated to households at one net for every two persons with a maximum of four nets per household, while SPAQ targeted children aged three to 59 months,” he said.
He said that some other activities of the campaign included advocacy to Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, investiture of the Malaria Ambassador on the wife of the state governor, Ambassador Professor Olufolake AbdulRazaq, advocacies to relevant stakeholders at all levels (political, traditional, community, and religious leaders), adding that the activities increased participation and ownership of the campaign process.
In her remarks, the state commissioner for Health Dr. Amina Ahmed El-Amin who commended the Implementation Team described the campaign as the first of its kind in the world, that has been successfully completed with incredible success.
She said the success was a result of the support of the governor of the state Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq, payment of the counterpart fund.
According to her “This success was a result of several factors, notable among which is the unalloyed and consistent support of H.E., the Governor of Kwara State, Mall. Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq approved the counterpart funding for the activity.
“The various approaches that were implemented in the various LGAs all yielded fantastic results in terms of the distribution of the SPAQ and ITN.
“Additionally, the support of the First Lady of Kwara State, Prof. Olufolake Abdulrazaq, the malaria ambassador, was invaluable. It led to increased awareness of uptake in Kwara State of the drug and the nets.
“I am incredibly grateful to the Global Fund for this generous of nets and drugs worth billions of naira. We are grateful to other partners who provided technical and other forms of support for the success of this activity,” she said.
The integrated mass campaign, which aimed to eliminate malaria in Kwara State, involved the distribution of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) and the administration of Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) to vulnerable populations.
The approach targeted both prevention and treatment strategies to ensure a comprehensive and effective response to malaria in the state.
SFH and the state ministry of Health were the Implementing Partners, with the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) being responsible for coordination and oversight, CRS providing the ICT4D support, and Chemonics responsible for the transportation of nets at all levels.
