16th August, 2010
Bayelsa State government says in the next few days, it will commence the distribution of free treated mosquito nets to households in the state to stem malaria scourge.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Azibapu Eruani, who dropped the hint in Yenagoa, said 800,000 nets had been earmarked for the exercise.
He told the News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) that malaria scourge had heightened in the state due to the rain, saying that the government would not compromise the health of its citizens.
Eruani said that the government would also distribute one million Artesunate Combination Therapy (ACT), an anti-malaria medicine and typhoid vaccines free to the people.
He said that the state was organising the distribution of the nets and drugs in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Health, adding that a team had been set up for that purpose.
Eruani also said that Gov. Timipreye Sylva would soon launch free antenatal programme “to offer free caesarian operations to those living in the rural areas.â€
He therefore, urged pregnant women to register at any hospital in the state to enable them to benefit from the programme.
On Diete-Kokie Memorial General Hospital project in Opolo in Yenagoa, started about seven years ago, the commissioner said that it might be inaugurated in September.
Eruani said that more than 80 percent of the equipment needed for the 500-bed hospital to take off had been received from suppliers.