An anti-poverty non-governmental organisation, ActionAid, recently conducted free malaria screening and treatment in Okwemor Community, Delta State, where no healthcare facility exists. Senior Correspondent, ONYEWUCHI OJINNAKA, reports.
A non-governmental, philanthropic and anti-poverty organisation, ActionAid Nigeria, recently visited Okwemor community in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State to conduct free malaria screening, treatment and distribution of treated mosquito nets to members of the community.
During the visit, ActionAid provided mosquito nets to about 55 people in the community. Priority was given to pregnant women, the elderly and parents with children below five years old. The entire community was also sensitised on the causes, symptoms and ways of preventing malaria.
“We engaged medical personnel consultants to conduct malaria tests on 70 people which included the sick within the community,” ActionAid informed TheNiche.
ActionAid’s primary objective is to help the poor and impact positively on vulnerable women, children, families and their communities in Nigeria through developmental projects and services.
Okwemor is one of the malaria-prone communities in Delta. In its investigation, ActionAid discovered that the area had no health facility, hence the inhabitants, especially pregnant women and children, usually trek about 20 kilometres to seek medical care at a poorly-equipped health centre in Okwagbe, which is nearest to them. There, they could access some health services from traditional practitioners.
According to ActionAid, one of the people met was a 36-year-old Johnson, a father of four who also narrated his ordeal.
“At first, it was my first daughter that was sick and we were treating her with local herbs; then this week, Ogho my second daughter, also became sick. I decided it was time to take them to Okwagbe Health Centre, but I am still trying to raise some money like N3,000. Healthcare in Okwagbe is never free.”
Malaria in Okwagbe community is particularly severe among pregnant women and children under five years. This is due to their relatively lower levels of immunity.”
Johnson recounted the lives lost last year. “It is very sad that we lose people to various sicknesses in this community because we have no health centre. The one in Okwagbe is really too far and not all of us can afford it. I know of four people that died in this community from sickness last year. Our pregnant women rely heavily on traditional birth attendants; they help with the ante-natal, delivery and post-natal.”
When asked if women had died as a result of using traditional birth attendants, Johnson said: “Of course, many women have died with and without their new babies. Sometimes there would be a need for an operation (caesarean section) in cases where the child is breached, but it would have been too late to get the woman to Okwagbe. We need our own health centre. That is the only solution.”