Minna — The Niger State Commissioner of Health, Dr. Ibrahim Sule yesterday said the state government in the past three years, spent N156. 5 million on the roll back malaria program. The commissioner, who spoke at an event to mark World Malaria Day in Minna, said the state loses N5.2 billion annually to the scourge.

He said the effect of the scourge is so enormous, especially taking into cognizance the man-hour loss and school absenteeism that the disease could cause. He lamented that the disease, though curable, has remained a major health problem in the state.

Sule said two million long lasting insecticidal mosquito nets were distributed under the program, and that 1.2 million doses of Artemisiminin based Combination Therapy (ACTs) were also distributed to 375 public health facilities while 1.3 million rapid diagnostic test kits were supplied to the state last year.

He added that over 3,000 health workers had acquired capacity training on malaria management, while N17 million has been released to kick start the rapid diagnostic test.