Abia distributes malaria commodities in health centres

The Abia State government has commenced the distribution of various malaria commodities to 292 ward health centres under the Malaria IMPACT Project, a Word Bank-assisted project.

Speaking during the project launch in collaboration with Pan Africare at the premises of the State Health Management Board in Umuahia, the State’s Malaria Impact Project Manager, Arua Obasi, said the project will strengthen the capacity of public and private sectors in the management of sick children and pregnant women, malaria diagnosis capacity, as well as provide insecticide-treated nets.

The malaria commodities distributed comprise 928,116 ACTs for the treatment of Malaria cases, 63,808 Injectable Artesunate for the management of Malaria among children, 429,342 SP for the treatment of Malaria in pregnancy and 829,068 RSTs for testing and confirmation of suspected cases of Malaria.

Others include 212, 545 Materials for testing and confirmation of Malaria through microscopy, 288, 533 ITNs for the prevention of Malaria and 876 Colour Coded Waste Bins for safe disposal of waste in the clinics.

The Country Director of PanAfricare, Dr Patrick Adah, said that the project is aimed at preventing/curtailing the spread of malaria and treating the victims and sensitising the populace on the prevalence status.

He added that the project provides improved generation of evidence of malaria for decision-making and impact through reporting of quality malaria data and information from all health facilities where the project is being implemented.

Adah said the project also strengthens coordination, collaboration and strategic partnership to promote efficiency and effectiveness of malaria control activities towards achieving at least 75 per cent improvement from baseline. He hinted at plans to extend the project to primary health facilities within the ward centres.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr Ifeyinwa Kalu, said that the government attained one hundred per cent in the treatment of malaria with Artesunate-based Combination Therapy (ACT) drugs in the third quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024, through the collaboration of PanAfricare and other partner agencies.

The representative of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr Caroline Iwuoha, said the agency would sustain monitoring towards ensuring that the materials are put into use.