August 20 of every year is set aside and marked as the World Mosquitoes Day worldwide to pay tribute to a British scientist and medical doctor, Sir Ronald Ross who discovered that anopheles mosquitoes are responsible for the transmission of malaria parasites to human beings in 1897. Later on, in 1902, the first Nobel Prize for physiology on his unprecedented indelible was awarded to him.
The date is also kept aside to carry on increasing public awareness for people to keep their surroundings safe from the disease-carrying mosquitoes’ bite and mosquitoes’ larvae. This crucial day is also aimed at spurring responsible global leaders on how to replicate their counterparts around the world who succeeded in wiping the entire species of mosquitoes from the face of the earth in their countries. The theme of the day is always “Reaching the zero-malaria target”.
This illustrious historic day is observed per annum at the Mosquito Center in the “London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine” where researchers, students and humanitarian organisations gather to widen the scope of scientific and medical research on all species of mosquitoes and malaria, and commemorate indelible achievements of Sir Ronald Ross.
Subsequently, apart from anopheles mosquitoes, epidemiologists and medical scientists discovered more than 3,500 different species of mosquitoes such as aedes, culex, culiseta, aegyptic, mansonia, psorophora, toxorhynchites, ochlerotatus, haemagogus, wyeomyia and others. Some of these species are held accountable for spreading and transmitting the vector-borne diseases to humans that includes yellow fever, malaria, chikungunya, dengue virus, Zika, West Nile virus, Rift valley disease, human African trypanosomiasis Chagas disease and others.
Each year, the above listed life-threatening and death-dealing illnesses strike the world, especially Sub-Saharan Africa and some parts of Latin America and Asia, consuming a plethora of vulnerable populations.
To bring an end to its daily deaths, the WHO has over the years been galvanizing global leaders to promptly wipe species of mosquitoes from the face of the earth in their countries and territories in order to protect their citizens from all illnesses caused by mosquitoes’ bites. The WHO is deeply gratified to see how more than 40 countries and territories that kept their nose to the grindstone for eliminating mosquitoes and certified as malaria-free nations by the WHO from 1955 to date.
Over the decades, leaders of Sub-Saharan Africa have been focusing on providing mosquitoes’ nets, insecticides and antimalarial drugs for controlling and safeguarding their people from malaria. It baffles me why they are not interested in going all out and keeping their minds on the elimination of mosquitoes which is the only way to be freed from malaria and the entire vector-borne diseases.
The year 2025 is Nigeria’s malaria pre-elimination target, which is expected to slow down below 5 percent of suspected 51 million cases and 207,000 annual deaths across the country. But, it seems, the country may miss it as long as cancerous corruption, self-obsession and lack of patriotic spirit keep crippling this life-saving vision. So, the country should leave no stone unturned in paving the way to attain the WHO’s zero-malaria target and the African Union’s mission by the year 2030.
Nigeria’s hopes have been pinned on the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP); the Malaria Eradication Fund and the National Malaria Strategic Plan (NMSP). Though the country missed out on its 2004-2020 National Malaria Strategic Plan (NMSP), the country should scale up its epic effort this time around and not throw in the towel.
Nigerians are now keeping their ears open to hear what sort of role the $300 million loan to support the immunization Plus and Malaria Progress by Accelerating Coverage and Transforming Services project (IMPACT) fund from the World Bank, Islamic Development Bank and African Development Bank in Nigeria would be. All eyes must be on these life-saving funds in order to be protected from vandalizing by wood-boring beetles. So many questions are now being raised on the non-disbursement of the funds and even the Lower Chamber of the National Assembly had recently lamented over the delay of disbursing the funds.
It is incumbent upon Nigeria’s National Assembly to help rescue more than 300,000 under-five children, that are killed annually by malaria across the country by putting the screws on National Malaria Elimination Programme and Federal Ministry of Health to ensure that they use that $300 million IMPACT’s fund aptly well.
Mustapha Baba Azare, Bauchi State
Join Daily Trust WhatsApp Community For Quick Access To News and Happenings Around You.
