Leadership (Abuja)
17 December 2008
Mr Francis Onojeta, the co-ordinator of the Roll-Back-Malaria Project in Delta State, has appealed to Indian hemp farmers to cultivate Artemisia herb for the production of anti-malarial drugs instead of the narcotic plant.
Onojeta told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Asaba, that the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) should liaise with Indian hemp farmers and advise them to cultivate Artemisia as a substitute.
He said: "We need to encourage local research into herbs. Artemisia is a local herb in China that is used as tea.
"State and local governments councils should encourage their local farmers to plant Artemisia annually," he said.
Onojeta noted that there was a lot of money in cultivating Artemisia:
"It is a cash crop that is used in the production of the Artemisin Combination Therapy (ACT) drugs."
He advised the National Malaria Control Programme to liaise with the NDLEA and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to motivate farmers to cultivate Artemisia.
The co-ordinator further said that as part of the capacity building initiative, the Roll-Back-Malaria programme in Delta had so far trained 372 patent medicine vendors.
He also said that in the last two months, no fewer than 1,937 insecticide-treated mosquito nets were distributed in the state with the support of the Society for Family Health.
Onojeta said 9,460 doses of Coatain anti-malarial drug had also been distributed to patent medicine dealers at a subsidised price.
He said that the partnership with patent medicine dealers would further create awareness and reduce the incidence of adulterated drugs in the state.
"We sell drugs at rock bottom prices and distribute them free of charge to expectant mothers and children under five years to reduce maternal mortality," the co-ordinator said.
He appealed to the various governments to put more funds into the treatment and management of malaria in addition to making its treatment free. (NAN)
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