Malaria Prevention: NGO, Borno Govt Donate 5m Mosquito Nets

A non-governmental organisation (NGO), Malaria Consortium, in collaboration with the Borno State government yesterday flagged off the 2026 Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) campaign with the distribution of five million treated mosquito nets across the 27 local government areas of the state.

Speaking during the programme which began with the distribution of the mosquito nets and immunisation of children in Maiduguri aged 3 to 59 months, the State’s Commissioner for Health, Prof Babagana Mallam Gana, noted that Borno is among four states in Nigeria that have been given five million mosquito nets each for malaria prevention.

Prof Gana said the states had a training meeting in Abuja, adding that micro planning has already been done for the inauguration of the State’s steering committee on the mosquito nets distribution.

He added that the nets have already arrived in Borno State, saying that some consignment have been sent to the southern part to be stored in Biu and Kwayar Kusar local government areas, so that they would be easy for distribution from there.

The commissioner further said that the steering committee would comprise heath workers, traditional rulers, security agencies, civil society organisations (CSOs) among others.

The State Programme Manager Malaria Consortium, Fatima Suleiman, noted that seasonal malaria Chemoprevention remains one of the most effective intervention for protecting children aged 3 to 59 months from malaria during the high transmission season.

She said, the intervention has saved lives on a yearly basis, reduced several malaria cases and eased burden on families and health system, adding that these achievements have been made possible through visionary leadership and commitment of Borno State government, the Ministry of Health through the state malaria elimination campaign programme.

The Borno State Emirate focal person and the district head of Damboa, Zanna Lawan Maina, while appreciating Borno government, Malaria Consortium and partners for the intervention, appealed for provision of more mosquito nets considering the growing population of Borno, which he said has risen to eight million.