Etisalat, has deepened
its fight against malaria with the
distribution of insecticide-treated mosquito nets to residents of Owutu Community, in
Ikorodu, Lagos State and Enuwa Square, Ile Ife in Osun State, reports ITRealms.
The exercises in
commemoration of the 2016 World Mosquito Day, form part of ongoing Pan-Nigeria
crusade by the telecommunications giant against the scourge of malaria in the
country.
Speaking during the presentation at Ile Ife, the Manager,
Corporate and Social Responsibility, Etisalat Nigeria, Oyetola Oduyemi, said the
exercise was in keeping with the company’s passionate commitment to sustainable
development.
“One of the key focal areas of our CSR
intervention programme is health, and this initiative forms a part of it. We
have a target to distribute tens of thousands of insecticide-treated nets across
the nation in the fight against malaria. We have been to some communities in
states like Kogi, Kaduna, Enugu and Rivers. We are taking it further to more communities
in the South West,” she said.
While receiving the items on behalf of the Ile Ife
Community, the Palace
Secretary, Mr. Idowu Salami, expressed delight at
the exercise just as he lauded the telecom firm for taking up the fight against
malaria which claims millions of lives yearly especially in Sub-Saharan Africa
due largely to environmental reasons.
His words, “the scourge of malaria is on the
increase due to poor sanitation practices; this provides a breeding ground for
the activities of mosquitos which leads to malaria. We are glad that Etisalat put
this programme together. We are sure many of the people who have benefitted
from this initiative can protect themselves from mosquito bites and malaria
attacks”.
At Ikorodu
West Local Council Development Area, Lagos, the insecticide-treated mosquito nets were received by Honourable
Samson Umar, who noted
that Nigeria has one of the highest number of malaria
casualties worldwide despite the many gains in the prevention and treatment of
the scourge.
According to the Nigerian
National Malaria Strategic Plan 2014-2020, malaria is responsible for 60
percent of outpatient visits to health facilities, 30 percent of childhood
deaths, 25 percent of deaths in children under one year, and 11 percent of
maternal deaths.
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Pix: Manager, Corporate and Social Responsibility, Etisalat Nigeria,Oyetola Oduyemi (left) presenting an Insecticide Treated Net to a beneficiary, Mrs Aminat Ajagbe (3rd right). With them are the Traditional Secretary to the Ooni of Ife, Salami Idowu (2nd left); Specialist, Community Relations, Abdulwahab Umoru and Corporate and Social Responsibility Officer, Rose Makinwa, both of Etisalat Nigeria during the distribution of free Insecticide-treated Nets by Etisalat at the Ooni's Palace, Ile-Ife recently
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