Present Children For Seasonal Malaria Chemo-Prevention, FCTA Tasks Parents, Caregivers

By: Prudence Okonna

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), has called on Parents and caregivers to make their children and wards available for the season malaria chemotherapy (SMC) drugs to reduce the prevalence of the disease in the Territory.

The FCT Programme Manager, Malaria Elimination Programme (MEP), Dr. Dan Gadzama, made the call at a Media Parley for Seasonal Malaria Chemo-Prevention organized by the Public Health Department and supported by Malaria Consortium in Abuja,Wednesday.

Gadzama emphasized the importance of the Chemo-Prevention exercise; revealing that this effort is being made by the FCT Administration following the feedback received that some residents have refused access to Community Drug Distributors (CDD), who are trained to distribute these drugs to households in the six Area Councils of the Territory.

Gadzama explained that while 945,779 children were reached in the first cycle in June 2024, more children need to be reached in the second cycle to hit the target of 961,262, so that children are protected at these peak periods when Malaria is prevalent.

His words: “I am calling on parents and caregivers to avail their children that are aged three to fifty-nine months that are under five years old, to receive these drugs. They are safe and free. From Friday 26th to Monday 29th July 2024, we will be coming to your house door to door to share these drugs with you.”

The Programme Manager said that the Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) is the administration of Sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) and Amodiaquine (AQ), also called SPAQ for five months between June and October when Malaria transmission is highest; adding that SPAQ is administered once a month (one cycle) for five months, that culminates to one round of treatment yearly.

Gadzama warned that the drug is not to be used as an anti-malaria treatment, nor is it to be used for children above five years old; assuring that the CDDs are trained to educate and help caregivers/parents administer these drugs seamlessly once daily for three days during each cycle.

Also speaking at the occasion, State Project Manager, SMC-FCT, Malaria Consortium, Dr. Olutomi Sodipo, said they are committed to ensuring that the health of every child remains a priority across the 62 wards of the six Area Councils of the FCT.

She disclosed that the media parley is a step towards the implementation of SMC intervention in the FCT; stressing that the role of the media is very critical in spreading the word about the importance of caregivers granting access for their children to receive the recommended treatments as well as spreading the right message and building trust.

Abuja Digest reports that the implementation of Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention is a community-based preventive treatment targeted at children, which began in FCT in 2022.

Abuja Digest further reports that the major objective is to administer SMC to children three to fifty-nine months to prevent malaria illness by maintaining therapeutic antimalarial drug concentrations in the blood throughout the greatest malarial risk.