By Haruna Aliyu, Birnin Kebbi

No fewer than 1.2m children under five years of age and pregnant women in Kebbi state are being targeted for protection against killer diseases in six selected local governments areas in Kebbi state by rotary community health challenge.

The country lead of the organization Dr Dele Balogun gave the hint at Aliero local government during health awareness engagements with traditional, religious and potential beneficiaries of the programm.

According to him, rotary healthy community challenge has mapped out strategic health plan to give free malaria drugs to children under the age of five years and to treat after testing children suffering with pneumonia in all the benefiting local governments and additional two wards.

He noted that women in rural areas have been encouraged to attend ante natal care through support from the organization which he said will save unborn children and their mothers “we feel there is no reason children and women die from curable diseases like malaria, pneumonia and other child killer diseases when we can support them with drugs for free, therefore rotary community health challenge is all out to save children and mothers against killer diseases ‘.

Mister Balogun maintained that the health engagements with rural communities across the four emirates in Kebbi state will first create awareness later followed by door to door malaria drugs drops in each households as over fifty thousand health volunteers have been trained and deployed to the selected benefiting local councils who would be giving free drugs against malaria, pneumonia and diarrhea among others.

He thanked Kebbi government for providing peaceful environment for the conduct of the exercise, it was attended by representatives of Aliero local government Chairman Zayyanu Muktar Aliero and Yusuf Umar Sawwa Director health education for commissioner of health Kebbi state.