Anambra Pregnant Women Ranks Highest In Accessing Anti-natal care in Nigeria

                 

 National malaria elimination programme (NMEP) data has revealed that Anambra State ranks highest in the Anti-natal Care attendance in Nigeria following the number of pregnant mothers that access both the public and private health facilities in the State.

The Head, Case management of the NMEP in Nigeria, Dr. Godwin Ntadom  while addressing over 300 participants in a one day dissemination event of Improving community Response to management of malaria (ICRAM) end line evaluation report organized by Christian aid, however regretted that war against malaria has not in any way reflected in Nigerian budget, reports odogwublog.com.
The Programm Manager, Community Health and HIV, Christian aid Nigeria, Nanlop Ogbureke explained that Christian aid is an international Development agency that commenced work in Nigeria since 2003 in some selected states in the country.
She noted that Christian aid in its approach has run malaria programme  in the selected states including awareness and sensitisation since 2007 to ensure that poor and marginalised people have an opportunity to live healthy lives in relation to malaria prevention, health seeking behaviour and obtaining malaria diagnosis and treatment options.
ICRAM project, according to her, was implemented in Anambra state between May, 2013 and September 2014, adding that the project piloted the feasibility of the use of malaria rapid diagnostic test kits (mRDT) at the community level by patent medicine vendors (PMV) and all lower level health facilities (LLHF)
The manager also hinted that the project employed several strategies including capacity building and advocacy to key stakeholders in the state.
Concluding, she regretted that many Anambrarians are not sleeping on the mosquitoe net which, she said, caused Christian aid and other roll back malaria partners huge sums of money to acquire in a bid to eliminate malaria in Nigeria.
Dr. Godwin Ntadom, while speaking further at the programme revealed that malaria causes 300 to 500 million illnesses globally and other 600,000 deaths every year and urged government to increase funding and partnership support to show malaria scourge an exit door in Nigeria.
Ntadom also noted that government and roll back malaria partners embarked on intermittent preventive treatment of malaria for pregnant women and promotion of the use of the long insecticidal treated nets, indoor residual spray to prevent malaria in Nigeria.
In a research conducted by Christian aid in ten communities of the State, the  Christian aid Knowledge Management, monitoring and Evaluation Officer, Sunny Okoroafor stated that about 97 percent of the respondents in Aguata and Ihiala Council area are aware of what malaria is while about 60 percent of the entire population visit Pharmacy or chemist for treatment of malaria.
This, according to Okoroafor, give credence to a known fact that presumptive treatment of malaria is widely practiced as patent Medicine Vendors were not conducting malaria tests.
In his remarks, the Anambra State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Joe Akabuike, represented by Mrs Evelyn Ngozi Ekeh commended Christian aid for their interventions in Anambra state and promised that the state government under Gov. Willie Obianor’s watch will continue to support them until malaria is eliminated in the state.
A participant, Adigwe Chibuko commended the dissemination event of the Christian aid and promised to take home the good news of  going for test before treatment of any ailment.