From Obinna Odogwu, Abakaliki
An International non-profit health organisation, Jhpiego, affiliated with Johns Hopkins
University, United States of America has launched its health intervention programme in Ebonyi State.
The health outreach tagged, “Transforming Intermittent Preventive Treatment for Optimal Pregnancy (TIPTOP),” was targeted at offering free malaria treatment to the people of the state, especially pregnant women and children.
No fewer than 100,000 pregnant women, children and others in the state are expected to benefit from free malaria treatment.
Its Project Director, Ms Elaine Roman, while launching the programme, lamented that malaria had caused millions of premature deaths globally.
She said Nigeria, being on the countries with high prevalence has lost many pregnant women and children to the disease.
Also speaking, the TIPTOP Senior Regional Programmatic and Technical Advisor, Prof. Emmanuel Otolorin, noted that the programme would significantly reduce malaria in pregnancy and increase lifesaving, quality anti-malaria medication Sulfadoxine-Pyrimethamine (SP) at regular intervals during pregnancy.
“Malaria in pregnancy is responsible for 10,000 maternal deaths and 100, 000 new-born deaths each year. Despite the availability of affordable interventions and medicines to prevent malaria in pregnancy, a high proportion of pregnant women do not access them,” he said.
Professor Otolorin explained that over 130 million long lasting insecticide treated
mosquitoes nets had been distributed by the Federal Government nationwide and called for provision of more nets for pregnant women.
In his remarks, the state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Daniel Umezuruike, commended the NGO for choosing the state to launch the TIPTOP programme.