Borno inaugurates distribution of over 5m ITNs, inaugurates Zulum’s wife as Ambassador
By Ahmed Ahmed
The wife of Borno State Gov. Prof. Falmata Zulum, on Thursday inaugurated distribution of more than five million insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) across the 27 Local Government Areas of the state.
The First Lady was also inaugurated as the Borno Ambassador for the ITN Mass Distribution Campaign, aimed at strengthening malaria prevention and protecting vulnerable populations, particularly children under five and pregnant women.
Speaking at the event, Zulum said she accepted the responsibility on behalf of mothers and the resilient people of Borno, stressing that malaria remained a serious public health challenge.
She said years of insurgency had disrupted healthcare delivery and compounded the malaria burden in the state.
According to her, insecticide-treated nets remained one of the effective evidence-based tools for preventing malaria, urging households to use them every night.
She commended the Malaria Consortium, Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, National Malaria Elimination Programme and other development partners for supporting malaria prevention efforts in the state.
Zulum urged local government chairmen, traditional and religious leaders and community leaders to support the exercise and encourage residents to sleep under the nets every night
Mr Maxwell Kolawale, Malaria Consortium’s West and Central Africa Programmes Director, said the organisation had been working with the state on malaria interventions, including seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC).
Kolawale said the collaboration began in 2021 when the Malaria Consortium provided a one-year grant to support SMC efforts, with a commitment to ensure that all eligible children were covered irrespective of their place of residence.
He said the effective implementation of the programme by the Borno State Ministry of Health and State Malaria Elimination Programme had helped create opportunities for expanded malaria interventions.
Kolawale said the ITN campaign was part of a comprehensive package of evidence-based interventions required to move closer to malaria elimination.
Prof. Baba Malam-Gana, Commissioner of Health and Human Services, said more than 527,000 confirmed malaria cases were reported in health facilities across Borno in 2023.
He said the state government, working with the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, National Malaria Elimination Programme and Malaria Consortium, would ensure the distribution of the nets across the state.
Malam-Gana said the nets were new-generation dual-acting nets selected because of mosquito resistance to older single-insecticide nets.
Ms Rashida Abubakar of the National Malaria Elimination Programme said the 2025 Malaria Indicator Survey recorded 28 per cent malaria prevalence among children aged six to 59 months in Borno.
She said the success of the campaign would depend not only on the number of nets distributed but also on whether they reached the intended households and were properly used.
Alhaji Mohammed Aji, Chairman of Local Government Area, who spoke on behalf of the 27 councils, assured that the distribution would be monitored to prevent diversion and ensure adequate sensitisation on the proper use of the nets.
