Dr. Olufemi Olugbile, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, disclosed this in a statement released by Mr. Jide Lawal, the ministry’s spokesman.
According to the statement, the households in Kosofe, Ibeju Lekki and Igbogbo/Bayeku council areas will be sprayed with insecticides to reduce the prevalence of malaria.
The statement said that the three council areas were identified as having high prevalence of malaria.
He also explained that the state government had shifted its emphasis in tackling the scourge of malaria from curative to preventive strategy.
“That is why we have adopted the Indoor Residual Spraying Strategy which is the application of safe and effective chemicals (insecticide) on walls and ceilings of houses to kill mosquitoes and other harmful insects”, Olugbile said in the statement.
Olugbile noted that follow up exercises would be conducted after six months in each of the three local government areas.
He added that government had trained 184 spray men and 92 supervisors for each of the benefitting local government areas.
He pointed out that a pilot test was conducted prior to the commencement of the exercise in order to assess the effectiveness of the chemicals to be employed.
The Permanent Secretary urged residents of the areas being sprayed to co-operate with the team by allowing them access to their houses.
“They should also remove portable household items, especially foodstuffs, water and valuable items before spraying, and stay outside for at least two hours after the spraying to allow the insecticide to dry,” he advised .
He also advised the affected households to sweep and mop the floors of their houses after two hours before children and pets are allowed to re-enter them.
The permanent secretary advised that sprayed rooms should not be repainted or re-plastered until after six months, adding that any form of allergy such as sneezing, cough, tingling, sensations should be reported to the hospital.
No comments:
Post a Comment