Daily Independent (Lagos)
Chesa Chesa
4 December 2008
Abuja — Nigeria is totally committed to the eradication of malaria by ensuring the success of the United Nations Roll-Back-Malaria programme in the country, President Umaru Yar'Adua reassured in Abuja on Thursday.
Yar'Adua spoke at the Presidential Villa when he received the United Nations Secretary General's Special Envoy for Malaria, Raymond Chambers, during which he expressed optimism that with the current initiatives on the use of treated bed nets, among other strategies, the prospects of a permanent solution were in sight.
He stated that Nigeria was serious about eradicating malaria because of the human and economic costs of the disease in terms of child and maternal mortality, which negatively impacts on the country's economic growth.
"This programme is extremely important to us and we will work hard to ensure that the Roll-Back-Malaria programme succeeds," the President said, adding that "if it works in Nigeria, you can be sure that the whole of Africa will benefit."
He supported the United Nations Secretary General's call for the formation of a Coalition of African Leaders Against Malaria, stressing that the continent needed to play a more robust role in the campaign against the disease because it is the most affected.
"We will continue to advocate and put in place measures and strategies for the distribution and use of treated nets particularly in the rural areas," the President said.
He noted that the Federal Ministry of Health, the Office of the Special Assistant on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), states and local governments would all be involved in ensuring the success of the distribution and use of treated nets.
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