By: Joy Odor/Kaduna
More than 2, 000 women, children and men, today benefited from free malaria, typhoid testing and treatment, free drugs worth thousands of naira and free scanning for pregnant women in commemoration of World Malaria Day celebrated on the 25th of April every year.
Speaking to newsmen while examining the patients at Angwar Dosa Community, Kaduna, North-West, Nigeria yesterday, the Proprietor of Fateemah Clinic, Hajiya Maryam Abubakar said the free testing and treatment is to contribute to the health and well-being of the needy, the less privileged and the disabled.
She mentioned that the 2017 report of the World Health Organization factsheet indicate that in 2016 there are 216 million cases of malaria worldwide and 445,000 deaths while Nigeria losses N132 billion naira to Malaria annually.
Hajiya Maryam Abubakar continue to inform that malaria is responsible for 60 percent outpatient visits to health facilities, 30 percent childhood death, 25 percent of death in children under one year and 11 percent maternal death in Nigeria.
According to her, the commemoration aimed to create awareness on malaria prevention, control, renew political, domestic and international commitments, fight malaria and advocate for disease funding.
This report, she said, push her to celebrate the Day with the needy who are suffering from malaria, typhoid and cannot afford to go to hospital due to lack of fund and also to introduced more concerned with preventing rather than curing malaria infection.
She narrated a story of a 6 years boy who was rushed to her clinic from Hayin Kogi, off Angwar Dosa Community with high fever and after testing, it was discovered that the boy had malaria, saying, the worst is that all the boys intestine are perforated.
Hajiya Maryam Abubakar explained that during the treatment, the father of the boy cannot pay for the treatment but had to sell one of his lands to treat the boy, pointing out that malaria is a major cause of increasing household poverty and slow phase of national development.
“There is a boy they brought from Hayin Kogi, we nearly loss him because his entire intestine are perforated and the father do not have money for the treatment and resulted in selling one of his land to treat the boy.
“Some of them will be sick like 3 months or 6 months before coming to my clinic for treatment.
“Coming from Hayin Kogi, Malalin Gabas, l think their transport money is enough to treat malaria or typhoid fever if the Kaduna State Government can provide basic amenities to these communities especially primary health care” Hajiya Maryam said.
The Proprietor called on the state government as a matter of urgency build health care facilities to Hayin Kogi and Malalin Gabas because they are suffering to come to inside Kaduna metropolis for treatment.
She stressed that if the state government can assist the people with primary health clinic in their communities, it would reduce cost and less border.
“So you see, if the governments have built a hospital in that community, a lot of lives would be saved” she ended.
