No fewer than 2.2 million children from the age of three to 59 months in Bauchi state have been targeted for the 2023 rounds of Seasonal Malaria Chemo (SMC) for malaria prevention.
The state programme coordinator of Malaria Consortium, Kabiru Mohammed Algamawy, stated this during a pre-implementation media briefing to rollout the exercise held at the Office of the Bauchi State Agency for the Control of Malaria, Tuberculosis, Leprosy and HIV/AIDS (BACTMA).
He stated that the objective of the SMC campaign is to maintain adequate therapeutic antimalarial drugs concentration in the blood of the recipient throughout the raining period of malarial risk.
Kabiru said the burden of malaria has been reduced by 12.5% from 2020 TO 2022, adding that Out-of-Pocket Expenditure to treat malaria has also been reduced and also explained that the SMC intervention is an intermittent administration of monthly treatment course of anti-malaria to children during high transmission of the scourge as the rainy season sets in.
The SMC programme coordinator said Bauchi state government is always happy with the presence of Malaria Consortium in the state and he commended the government for the tremendous support the consortium is getting in carrying out its activities in the state.
