A massive effort to kill of mosquito larvae throughout the country has been approved to begin next year, Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu said.

He disclosed this at the ministerial platform, a public briefing on achievements by various ministries in the first year of the Jonathan administration.

Chukwu said exact areas where larvicide application will begin have been mapped using result from the recently released malaria indicator survey. Further details are yet to emerge.

Larvicides are chemical substances capable of killing off young mosquitoes, which mass in stagnant water bodies and damp surrounds around human dwelling, in attempt to control mosquito populations.

Their use is considered among serious measures to control the mosquito vector, which carries the malaria-causing parasite plasmodium.

Nearly seven in 10 Nigerians are considered susceptible to malaria; the disease is also thought responsible for almost 30% of deaths in children under age five.