Kogi To Distribute Insecticide-treated Nets Statewide October 1

By Bashir Idris Opaluwa

The Programme Manager, Kogi State Malaria Elimination Programme, Hajia Suleiman Rafiat says the state Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the Malaria Consortium and other development partners, will commence the distribution of insecticide-treated nets to households across the state in October.

Rafiat, who disclosed this on Tuesday when she led officials of the programme on a courtesy visit to the headquarters of the Kogi State Broadcasting Corporation in Lokoja, said the exercise would hold from October 1 to 10, 2026.

She said the initiative was aimed at complementing existing malaria prevention interventions and extending protection to the wider population, particularly adults.

According to her, the state has recorded significant progress in malaria control through the Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention programme implemented since 2021 for children aged three to 59 months.

She said the Malaria Indicator Survey showed that prevalence in the state had declined from 23 per cent to 15.9 per cent, while a subsequent survey conducted last year recorded a further drop to 8.9 per cent.

Rafiat, however, stressed the need to extend preventive measures beyond children, noting that the new campaign would provide additional protection for adults and other members of the population.

She urged residents to make proper use of the nets by hanging them over their sleeping spaces and warned against using them for farming, fishing, fencing or other unintended purposes.

Also speaking, the Kogi State Campaign Manager of the Malaria Consortium, Dr Ake Stephen Oluwarotimi, said the campaign was supported by the GiveWell Foundation, with the Malaria Consortium serving as the implementing partner.

Oluwarotimi said community implementers would be deployed in the 239 wards of the state to distribute the nets from house to house and determine the number required by each household based on its population.

Responding, the Director-General of the Kogi State Broadcasting Corporation, Princess Nana-Hauwa Yusuff, assured the team of the corporation’s readiness to support the campaign through adequate publicity and sensitisation.

Yusuff, who was represented by the Director of News and Current Affairs, Pastor Gowon Edibo, urged the team to furnish the corporation with necessary information on the programme.

She said the corporation would consider the request for airtime and coverage of the campaign, stressing the importance of effective public enlightenment in ensuring residents were adequately informed about the exercise.