Malaria: Firm donates 800 Treated Mosquito Nets To Jigawa Boarding Students
By: Ahmed Aminu, Dutse
A manufacturing company, BASF, has presented Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs) to boarding school students in Jigawa state as part of its contribution to curbing the menace of malaria in the state.
The Syndicate reports that the presentation was made to students of Science and Technical College, Hadejia.
The BASF Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Country Cluster, West Africa, Dr Jean-Marc Ricca, said the gesture was to complement the efforts of the state government and other partners in reducing the prevalence of malaria in the state and the nation in general.
“I’m happy to present 800 number of ITNs to you as part of our contribution to prevent and curb the prevalence of malaria especially in this rainy season, where stagnant water and grasses breeding mosquitoes are all over. We would also retrieve old nets from the students to be recycled for other uses,” Ricca added.
According to him, the exercise is an opportunity for the students to discover recycling for cleaner environment.
He explained that the donation of the mosquitoe nets to the students was not part of the main ITN distribution to households, but a new component, ‘End of Life’, under which old nets are retrieved from communities for recycling.
Also, the Director Nature Conservation, state Ministry of Environment, Mr Ibrahim Lawan, commended the firm for retrieving the old nets for recycling as they are non degradable.
Lawan, who represented the Commissioner for Environment, Dr Nura Ibrahim, said the state government is also collaborating with NGOs and other partners in recycling such non degradable materials for cleaner environment.
He explained that in order to make the environment clean, such materials are being collected and taken to industries for recycling.
On his part, the Director Pharmaceutical Services, Ministry of Health, Pharm. Rabiu Yakubu, commanded the firm for supporting the state in the fight against malaria.
Yakubu said the intervention would safeguard the students from contracting malaria.
The director, who spoke on behalf of the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Mohammad Kainuwa, called on the beneficiaries to always sleep under the nets in order to achieve the desired goal.
Responding, the Deputy Head Boy of the college, Usman Harisu, commended the firm for the gesture and pledged that the students would use the mosquito nets properly.
