World Malaria Day: U.S Supports Nigeria To Fight Malaria

<p><em>World Malaria Day in Nigeria<&sol;em><br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a><&sol;strong> reports that in its Annual Report released to the U&period;S&period; Congress on Friday&comma; the President’s Malaria Initiative &lpar;PMI&rpar; said that in 2020&comma; despite the constraints of COVID-19&comma; PMI helped Nigeria provide 14&period;7 million treatment doses at the facility and community levels&comma; 8&period;2 million of which were for pregnant women and children&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;PMI distributed 7&period;1 million insecticide-treated mosquito nets &lpar;ITNs&rpar;&comma; provided 7&period;2 million rapid test kits&comma; and trained 9&comma;300 health workers to properly diagnose and treat patients for early detection of the disease&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Led by the U&period;S&period; Agency for International Development &lpar;USAID&rpar; and implemented together with the U&period;S&period; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention &lpar;CDC&rpar;&comma; PMI works with partner organizations to benefit more than 41 million people across Nigeria&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Use of ITNs is one of the most effective measures to prevent malaria&period; Since 2010&comma; PMI has supported Nigeria in the distribution of more than 61 million bed nets&comma; which are now in use in 43 percent of Nigerian households&comma; up from just 23 percent at the start of the initiative&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Malaria is one of the leading causes of death among children in Nigeria&comma;” said USAID Mission Director Anne Patterson&comma; who oversees PMI activities in collaboration with CDC leadership&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We are pleased to see our partnership with Nigeria has had clear success and will continue this support with proven methods of prevention and treatment against malaria&period;”<br &sol;>&NewLine;Nevertheless&comma; malaria remains an onerous burden among the poorest and the most vulnerable echelons of Nigerian society&period; During pregnancy&comma; the disease can pose a life-threatening risk to both mothers and babies&semi; malaria also causes adults and children to miss work and school&comma; contributing to economic hardship&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;PMI works with Nigeria’s <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;punchng&period;com&sol;">National Malaria Elimination<&sol;a> Program to scale-up proven&comma; cost-effective&comma; and life-saving malaria control interventions centered around ITN distribution&comma; intermittent preventive treatment for pregnant women&comma; diagnostic testing&comma; and treatment&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Simultaneously – and equally important – PMI helps to strengthen health systems and build the skills of health workers to deliver malaria services&period; PMI also enhances the capacity of federal and state health officials to manage malaria control activities&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;U&period;S&period; Global Malaria Coordinator Raj Panjabi said&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Science shows we can beat malaria and we can beat it in our lifetime&period; Yet we need bold action to stop COVID-19 from holding us back&period; The United States is proud to partner with Nigeria to continue the fight&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;