No fewer than 1.2 million children aged between three and 59 months in Kogi State have received Seasonal Malaria Chemotherapy to combat malaria during the rainy season.
According to The PUNCH, this initiative was carried out by the Malaria Consortium in collaboration with the Kogi State Ministry of Health.
During the 2024 Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention event in Lokoja on Saturday, Kenneth Maduka, Project Manager of the Malaria Consortium for Kogi State, shared that over 6.3 million doses of medication were distributed to the children under the Kogi SMC project in 2023 alone.
Maduka also highlighted that the project reached more than 28 million children across Nigeria in 2023, covering 52% of the global target of 54 million children.
He noted that the prevalence of malaria had decreased by 16% in Kogi State and 27% globally in 2023, attributing this success to the effective administration of SMC drugs to children aged three to 59 months.
He said, “The drop in the malaria scourge can be attributed to the successful administration of Seasonal Malaria Chemotherapy drugs on children between the ages of three and 59 months across the country and globally in 2023.
“SMC is a combination of two antimalarial drugs: Sulphadoxine Pyrimethamine and Amodiaquine, given to eligible children of ages three to 59 months, only during the rainy season to prevent them from contracting malaria.
“The SMC project implementation began in Kogi in 2021 under the State Malaria Elimination Programme supported by Malaria Consortium, World Health Organisation and other partners.”
