The Wake Women and Youth Empowerment Initiative (Wake-WAYED), in partnership with the Society for Water and Sanitation (NEWSAN), has organised a malaria prevention sensitisation for the water board community of Jalingo in Taraba State.
The CEO of Wake-WAYED, Pastor Favour Dafid, explained during the programme that the organisation was moved to carry out the sensitisation, free testing, and medication for the community due to its swampy environment which is infested with mosquitoes, which causes malaria.
Dafid noted that the organisation was out to stop preventable diseases like pneumonia, malaria and others, especially among pregnant women and children between the ages of 0-5, due to their low immune systems.
“We desire to ensure that communities in Taraba become malaria and other preventive diseases free. The idea of today’s sensitisation to the water board community of Jalingo is due to the water nature of the area, which is prone to mosquito bites that cause malaria.
“After the awareness, we are going to carry out free testing and free medication to those who may be infected with malaria.
“Our major target is women and children, especially pregnant women and children between the ages of 0-5 whose immune system is low and can be easily infected by malaria,” the CEO explained.
Dafid, while thanking the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jalingo, for its assistance, appealed for government support to enable the organisation to reach out to more communities in the state to eliminate the diseases.
Taraba State coordinator, Society for Water and Sanitation (NEWSAN), Mr Boniface Kosom, noted during the event that the organisation was out for the sensitisation programme in the community, considering the danger associated with mosquitoes in the area.
“This community is bothering the riverbank, which is prone to mosquitoes, and people in the area can easily be infected with malaria. Most communities around the waterside, considering the poor environmental hygiene of those areas, are prone to mosquito infestation as mosquito finds the areas favourable for breeding,” he said.
