Kebbi, Consortium Sign Pact To End Malaria

The Kebbi State government and the custodians of the Malaria Consortium in West and Central Africa have signed an agreement to curb the scourge of malaria in the state.

The agreement was signed yesterday when the deputy governor, Senator Abubakar Umar Tafida, received the West and Central director of the Malaria Consortium Programme, Dr Maxwell Kolawale, in his office in Birnin Kebbi.

Tafida told the director that the state government would support the Consortium to end the scourge of the disease in the state.

He described malaria as an age-long disease and that Kebbi has vast Fadama land, which could be vulnerable to the disease.

The deputy governor said that under the partnership, the Ministries of Health and Agriculture would provide digital support to eradicate the disease.

In his response, Kolawale acknowledged the progress recorded in the ongoing seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) implementation and in the introduction of vaccines for children aged one to 59 months, adding that the programme began last year on a trial basis in Kebbi and Bayelsa States.

He said the consortium has concluded the implementation of a research learning agenda on the malaria vaccination programme in Kebbi State and that the findings would be shared across the country.