Clearline Partners Greenlife Pharmaceutical against Malaria in Lagos Community

Rebecca Ejifoma 

Clearline HMO in partnership with Greenlife Pharmaceuticals recently took an anti-malaria sensitisation campaign to residents of Bariga Ilaje community in Lagos.

This was to cushion the impact of mosquito bites in line with this year’s World Malaria Day.

Some of the messages of the awareness talks centered on the best way to prevent malaria while participants were given insecticide treated nets, insecticides and anti-malaria drugs.

In the words of the GM, Stakeholders Management & Contact Centre of ClearlineHMO, Mrs. Chidinma Chigbo, seeing that the community is sandwiched by water, their team enlightened residents on the best way to reduce the storage of malaria. 

With this year’s World Malaria Day theme, “Harness Innovation to Reduce the Malaria Disease Burden and Save Lives”, Chigbo acknowledged prevention of malaria as paramount in the reduction of malaria. 

She added: “Ilaje Bariga is a riverine area and a suburb, so we are here to sensitise the inhabitants on what causes malaria and how to prevent it going forward.”

The GM listed stagnant water, ditches or clogged drainages in their environments can breed mosquitoes, especially anopheles, the carrier of the disease. 

Meanwhile, the Area Manager, Greenlife Pharmaceuticals Limited, Dr. Wilfred Okolie, recommended therapeutic options for communities in Lagos State and Nigeria after she cited that Nigeria has a greater percentage of malaria cases. 

Nigeria is said to suffer the world’s greatest malaria burden. According to World Malaria Report in 2020, an estimated 76 per cent of Nigeria’s population are at risk of malaria by living in high transmission areas. And Nigeria accounts for 27 per cent of malaria cases worldwide and the highest number of deaths due to malaria in 2019.

Hence, Okolie harped on the need for early treatment of malaria. “It goes a long way to prevent complications, especially in children. 

“For us at Greenlife, we have contributed much to the fight against malaria through the provision of therapeutic options.”

On his part, the Baale of the community, Kayode Ayetua, a high chief, commended Clearline for the initiative. “Malaria is a disease in Nigeria and Africa. It is great to have Clearline come assist us in the fight against the disease. 

“As the baale, I ensure I bought in this organisation and other NGOs. We have been doing this for three years in the Ilaje Bariga community,” he recalled.