A national Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member, Blessing Nwokeoma, has led a malaria awareness campaign in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, where she also donated preventive items to support the fight against the disease.
The sensitisation, held at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Yenagoa, featured the distribution of anti-malaria drugs, treated mosquito nets, insecticides, and a large waste bin.
Explaining why she chose the campaign as her Personal Community Development Service (CDS), Nwokeoma said the vulnerability of riverine communities to malaria outbreaks informed her decision. She noted that Nigeria, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), records the highest number of malaria cases and deaths globally.
“Malaria remains one of the greatest health challenges in the country, especially in riverine and tropical regions. It is still a leading cause of illness and death among children under five and pregnant women,” she said.
Citing the WHO’s 2023 World Malaria Report, she highlighted that there were an estimated 263 million malaria cases and 597,000 deaths globally, with Nigeria alone accounting for 27 per cent of cases and 31 per cent of deaths.
She explained that her initiative, tagged SaniCare, was designed to enlighten communities on malaria transmission, dangers, and prevention, while also promoting hygiene and environmental sustainability. She added that the donation of a waste bin to FMC was meant to improve waste management and reduce mosquito breeding grounds.
A Senior Lecturer at the Department of Entrepreneurship and Marketing, Federal University, Otuoke, Dr Joy Akahome, noted that Bayelsa’s creeks, rivers, and mangroves made it highly vulnerable to malaria.
She stressed that mosquito breeding not only affected health but also had economic, entrepreneurial, and religious implications. Families, she said, spent heavily on treatment at the expense of food, education, and small businesses, while productivity was lost when parents could not work and children missed school.
peaking on behalf of the Ovom community, the Acting Deputy Female Chief, Peace Ogogo, commended Nwokeoma for bringing the programme to the area. She said the initiative was timely, given the community’s proximity to the river and the presence of a government waste dump site, and would raise awareness about malaria prevention, particularly among pregnant women and children.
Receiving the donations on behalf of FMC, the Head of Clinical Services, Dr Gesiye Bozimo, praised the corps member for the gesture. She noted that both patients and staff would benefit from the items in the ongoing fight against malaria and urged other corps members to emulate the initiative.
