Chairman of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), FCT chapter, Mr. Ifeanyi Ikebudu, has said the R21/Matrix vaccine which was recently granted provisional approval by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control ( NAFDAC) has great potential and that it targets the most vulnerable groups in the general population.
He called on Nigerians, particularly pregnant women and nursing mothers, to accept it when it finally arrives.
“The vaccine has a lot of potential. First of all, it targets the most vulnerable group of the population which is the age range of 5 months to 36 months, that is 5 months to 3 years, which is the group that is most affected by malaria across the world.
“Secondly, it has an effective rate of 80 percent, quite unlike other ones that have been in existence. You can see that if this one is put into use, it will have a greater potential of drastically bringing down the burden of malaria.
“And very importantly, we seriously admonish parents especially mothers and pregnant women to accept use of the vaccine when eventually rolled out,” stated Ikebudu.
And talking about the statistics of the Nigerian population that is more likely to be affected by malaria, Ikebudu stressed that 97 percent of Nigerians are prone to malaria as they are majorly from the poor or low income class.
“In Nigeria, 97 percent of the population is prone to malaria. 97 percent is a whole lot of the population of the country.
“Malaria affects mainly the younger children and the underprivileged; those who are in the medium or low-income classes. Now, if you also look at the world economies, you will see that the gap between the rich and the poor is increasing. In the last couple of years, we have had more people in this country that are poor than we had previously. These are all part of the whole problem,” averred Ikebudu.
World Malaria Day is celebrated globally on the 25th of April every year. The PSN being a major contributor to the fight for the eradication of malaria in Nigeria, yearly organizes sensitization campaigns, free medical tests and free distribution of drugs on this important day. This year’s exercise was conducted in the vicinity around the PSN’s corporate office, and it recorded large turnouts of residents of the vicinity.
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