The federal government has said not all feverish symptoms should be regarded as malaria or treated with antimalaria drugs.
Chinelo Ogbodo, chief community development officer of the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP), cautioned against such an act while speaking at a meeting in Akwanga, Nasarawa state.
she advised Nigerians to undergo a medical test before taking antimalarial drugs as not all fevers are symptoms of malaria.
Ogbodo described the treatment of every form of fever with antimalarial drugs as an abuse of the drug.
According to her, “every individual presenting symptoms of malaria or fever must be tested before you give them antimalarial drugs when they test positive.
” Nigerians must understand that malaria is not common, there are various types and levels of the disease, like complicated and uncomplicated malaria, we also have severe malaria.
” When you treat fever with malaria drugs, without going for a test before treatment, you have succeeded in treating blindly without knowing what you are treating or the level of what you are treating.
” When somebody has malaria and treats without testing, he or she has abused the drugs because you do not know the level of malaria you are treating. When a death occurs as a result of malaria, people term it as witchcraft or spiritual causes.”
Also, Samuel Owoya, a staff member of NMEP, pointed out that malaria is a major cause of mortality in the country and could also be prevented through the use of long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs).
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