The Kogi State Government will distribute 3,141,485 i la insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) to households across the state from November 8 to 15, 2026.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr Abdulazeez Adams Adeiza, disclosed this during media engagement in Lokoja, noted that persistent public health and economic challenges posed by malaria.
The campaign is being organised by the state government in collaboration with the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) and Malaria Consortium to reduce malaria transmission and promote preventive healthcare.
The Commissioner, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Maji Enoch, said the campaign was aimed at reducing the disease burden by improving access to insecticide-treated nets.
He described malaria as a life-threatening disease , noting that it remained a major public health challenge because of its effects on healthcare costs, productivity and livelihoods.
He said billions of naira were lost annually to malaria through treatment and prevention expenses, as well as working hours lost to the disease.
“Nigeria accounts for 24.3 per cent of global malaria cases annually and an estimated 30.3 per cent of the 579,000 malaria-related deaths recorded worldwide each year, citing 2025 data from the World Health Organisation (WHO).
“Kogi State recorded a malaria prevalence of 8.9 per cent in the 2025 survey, the disease continued to disrupt activities in schools, offices, farms and markets, undermining productivity and imposing financial pressure on households.
“In 2025 Nigeria Malaria Indicator Survey showed that malaria prevalence nationwide declined from 22 per cent in 2021 to 15.2 per cent in 2025,” Adeiza said.
The commissioner identified sleeping under insecticide-treated nets as one of the most effective ways to prevent malaria, noting that studies had shown that their use could reduce malaria incidence by 50 per cent in sub-Saharan Africa, which accounts for more than 90 per cent of global malaria cases.
He urged residents to take advantage of the free distribution exercise, describing it as an important opportunity to strengthen malaria prevention across the state after nine years without a statewide free net distribution campaign.
The Commissioner also urged households to ensure that at least one representative was available during the exercise to complete registration and collect the nets allocated to them.
Adeiza said personnel wearing uniforms bearing the malaria campaign logo would visit households to register residents and distribute the nets.
The commissioner also advised beneficiaries to air newly collected nets in the shade for 24 hours before hanging them. He urged residents to ensure that the nets were properly tucked around sleeping areas and used every night throughout the year.
Adeiza called on residents to support the campaign through consistent use of the nets, stressing that collective participation was essential to reducing malaria transmission and improving public health outcomes across Kogi State.
Veteran journalist and recipient of A.B.C Yola, Reporter of the Year Award (1997), Hassan Umar Shallpella, works with WAP as a Regional Correspondence. He was trained at Institute of Mass Communication and Technology Jos and Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Training School Lagos.He was a News desk Editor and a Correspondent at the Punch newspaper and till 2019, was the Deputy Editor ofThe Scope newspaper.
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