Rivers State Government to partner with Roll Back Malaria Initiative to eliminate the disease




Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has declared that the  State Government will join all roll back malaria  partners to develop a formidable platform to eliminate the disease  in the state.
Speaking during his  investiture as  the grand ambassador for malaria elimination at the  Government House Port Harcourt on Wednesday, Governor Wike said that his administration has made the fight against malaria a top priority. 

He said: "We must all join the fight to eliminate malaria.  The deaths flowing from malaria are unacceptable.  We must  execute it as a communal based action plan.



"The fight against malaria goes  beyond providing bed nets or ensuring access to effective treatment.  These are important  measures, but certainly not enough. We must move from this sense of complacency that malaria is preventable and completely treatable and focus on the need to end malaria for good within the shortest period".

He noted that the action based communal effort to eradicate malaria must be owned and driven by the grassroots, with a broadbased platform. 

Governor Wike called on the private sector to join the fight to end malaria  as an enlightened  self-interest. 

The governor also  urged civil society organisations and well meaning  individuals  to contribute  to ending the prevalence of malaria in the state. 

In his address, Rivers State Commissioner of Health, Professor Princewill Chike said that Rivers State has one of the  lowest prevalence of malaria in the country. 

He said that the need to  eliminate malaria is premised on the fact that it accounts  for 60percent outdoor visits to the state and percent admission in health facilities. 

He said the investiture of the Rivers State Governor as the Grand Ambassador of Malaria Elimination will galvanize the fight in the interest of the state. 

In a goodwill message, South-South Coordinator of the World Health Organisation, Dr Wale Famiyesin said the governor's investiture gives him the mantle to make further investments in eradicating malaria. 

Highpoint of the occasion was the launch of the Treated Nets against Mosquito by the Rivers State Governor supported by members of the State Roll Back Malaria Initiative. 

Simeon Nwakaudu,

Special Assistant to the Rivers State Governor, Electronic Media. 

25th April, 2018.

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