The Enugu State Government has begun free malaria testing and treatment in about 527 health facilities across the 17 local government areas.
The Commissioner for Health, Prof. George Ugwu, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu on Wednesday that the facilities were in both public and private health facilities in the state.
He noted that facilities offering the free testing and treatment include: Primary Healthcare Centres, General and Cottage hospitals as well as some selected private and public tertiary hospitals.
According to him, the government wants to drastically reduce the prevalence and incidences of malaria among residents of the State.
“The ongoing statewide Enugu State Ministry of Health Malaria Elimination Project, which was envisioned and embarked upon by Governor Peter Mbah, is meant to touch lives and strengthen health of residents.
“The state government, with support from its health partners, has made available free malaria test consumables and drugs to many health facilities including public and private hospitals in the State.
“The residents should avail themselves of this health gesture by visiting health facilities close to them and play their role in helping in eliminating malaria and its health and financial burden out of the State,” he said.
The commissioner advised doctors and health workers to always conduct malaria tests before treatment, adding that “not all fever is malaria”.
The commissioner said the project had been running for over a year now, and it is being scaled up by the government.
The impactful project has reduced the prevalence of malaria in the state to 9.9 per cent according to a recent four-year gap malaria survey data.
- NAN