PUNCH
A public health parasitologist at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Prof. Dennis Aribodor, has said the high cost of malaria drugs is pushing most families to the use of concoctions for the treatment of the disease.
Aribodor called on the government at all levels to declare the treatment of malaria free for children in all public health facilities in the country.
The public health expert stated these in Awka on Monday as parts of activities marking this year’s World Malaria Day which takes place on April 25.
Aribodor, who is also the founder of Malaria Eradication and Safe Health Initiative of Nigeria and the South-East Zonal Coordinator of the Civil Society Network in Malaria Control, Immunization and Nutrition, said there was a need not only to control the spread of malaria infections but to also eradicate it completely because it has resulted in many preventable deaths.
He said, “The essence is to ensure that children who are the most allergic to the infection are diagnosed and treated without any costs as most poor families have resorted to concoctions for treatment of the disease resulting in high rate of kidney failures.
“The people in the villages do not have money to treat their children. They resort to herbal concoctions which contribute to kidney problems among children because some of those herbal concoctions are not regulated.
“The more you give them, the more the kidney suffers. There is an epidemic of kidney problems among children these days. So government should help these poor families by ensuring…
