Kano State Commissioner for Health Dr. Kabiru Ibrahim Getso at the weekend said the state recorded about 97,845 cases of malaria this year.
He added that the campaign against malaria is gaining momentum, compared to the 104,745 cases recorded in 2016.
Getso, who spoke at the launch of the state malaria quarterly bulletin, designed by AFENET, a non-governmental health organisation promoting a healthy Africa, described malaria as a high-cost disease.
He added that the government has spent billions in managing patients and providing anti-malaria materials and drugs free.
“The government has been supporting different organisations with anti-malaria drugs, insecticides and treated nets to conduct community outreaches.”
AFENET’s Field Director Dr. Amina Abdullahi Umar said the malaria bulletin is to present the current situation of malaria in the state, encourage the use of routine malaria data for decision making, strengthen malaria surveillance and help to measure the impact of malaria morbidity and mortality.
The government has alerted residents to the dangers of monkey pox virus, urging them to apply personal hygiene and desist from consuming bush meat and half-cooked beef.
Getso told reporters yesterday that the government carved out a special hospital for monkey pox patients in case of any outbreak.
He, however, said no case had been recorded.
“The disease is transmitted from direct contact with the blood, body fluids, or coetaneous or mucosal lesions of infected animals, such as monkeys, Gambian giant rats, squirrels and rodents.
“Eating inadequately cooked meat of infected animals is a possible risk factor. Human-to-human transmission occurs from contact with body fluids, secretions or skin lesions of an infected person or objects recently contaminated.”
