1.2m Children Receive Malaria Treatment in Kogi

In a bid to prevent malaria during the raining season, about 1.2 million children who are between three and 59 months old have been administered Seasonal Malaria Chemotherapy in Kogi State.

The Project Manager Malaria Consortium in charge of Kogi State, Kenneth Maduka, disclosed this during the 2024 Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention, organised by the Consortium in collaboration with the Kogi State Ministry of Health held in Lokoja on Saturday.

According to him, in Kogi State alone, 1.2m children of ages three to 59 months were administered with more than 6.3m medicines distributed under the Kogi SMC project in 2023.

Speaking further the Project Manager disclosed that more than 28m children were reached in Nigeria, representing 52 per cent of the global coverage of 54m children in 2023.

He said malaria prevalence has dropped by 16 per cent in Kogi and 27 per cent globally in 2023 compared with previous years

He said, “The drop in the malaria scourge can be attributed to the successful administration of Seasonal Malaria Chemotherapy drugs on children between the ages of three and 59 months across the country and globally in 2023.

“SMC is a combination of two antimalarial drugs: Sulphadoxine Pyrimethamine and Amodiaquine, given to eligible children of ages three to 59 months, only during the rainy season to prevent them from contracting malaria.

“The SMC project implementation began in Kogi in 2021 under the State Malaria Elimination Programme supported by Malaria Consortium, World Health Organisation and other partners.”