No fewer than 570,000 cases of malaria were recorded in Lagos in 2013, State Health Commissioner, Dr. Jide Idris has disclosed.

At a briefing yesterday as part of efforts to mark this year’s World Malaria Day with the theme: “Invest in the Future; Defeat Malaria,” Idris harped on the need for Lagosians to demand for accurate diagnosis of malaria before treatment.

The Commissioner, who said transmission of malaria was stable in the state, said: “All year round about 570,000 cases were reported in 2013 compared to 566,212 cases in 2012 on the disease surveillance and notification report. This could be attributed to the cosmopolitan nature of Lagos, abundant distribution of coastal areas and the behaviour of some inhabitants, which encourage the availability of stagnant water resulting in breeding sites for the anophelese.”

Idris, who explained the importance of accurate diagnosis in the treatment of malaria, stressed that accurate diagnosis of malaria would improve the quality of patient care.