ByChiomaOBINNA
AS malaria still accounts for over 60 percent of outpatient cases in Lagos, the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris has blamed the high prevalence of malaria on behavioural factors.

In a keynote address presented at the official dissemination of “Malaria Control Advocacy, Communication and Social Mobilisation Strategy and Implementation/Social launching of the State Malaria Control Media (ACSM), he noted that effective caregiver attitudes and behaviour are pertinent to mitigating the morbidity and mortality of the disease.

Idris who stressed the need to deploy effective diagnostic and treatment methods for malaria case management further explained that malaria would remain a problem if necessary steps are not taken on behavioural factors, such as practices promoting  mosquito breeding and mosquitoes bite as well as the failure of at risk populations to use technologies proven to be effective for the prompt and appropriate treatment, prevention and control of malaria.

Reeling out strategies mapped out to control malaria in the country, Idris who was represented by the State Director of Disease Control, Dr. Femi Taiwo stressed that the achievement of most targets for the control of malaria in the state requires broad-based communication interventions that are comprehensive enough to cover all the aspects of communication.

He reminded State committees’ members of ACSM of their duty to develop advocacy and information materials, public enlightenment programmes community dialogues and surveys as part of strategies to tackle the prevalence of malaria in the state.

The Commissioner said the concept of ACSM was to foster active collaboration between state malaria control programme and relevant civil societies and private sector organisations to help implement, monitor, and evaluate advocacy communication and social mobilisation interventions for maximum impact among the populace.

Giving the overview of ACSM Strategy document synopsis, ACSM Chairperson, Dr. Layeni Adeyemo said the plan was to ensure a Lagos free malaria state.

“It is intended to guide Roll Back Malaria partners in Lagos State in the implementation of advocacy, communication, (BCC) and social mobilisation (ACSM) interventions. It presents the process of identifying the key communication objective, the message concepts, the minimal doable action by the target audiences at each level of communication domains and the activities that will enhance the desirable actions amongst others.”