OVH Energy Partners Clean-Up Initiative To Battle Malaria In Nigeria

Yemisi Izuora 

OVH Energy, has partnered with African Clean-up initiative in the global fight against malaria. The ‘Roll Back Malaria Campaign’ is an initiative organized and executed to educate beneficiaries on malaria prevention tactics especially in the riverine communities. The event which took place at Onne, Rivers State, attracted over 300 female indigenes, especially women and children. 

The outreach comes on the heels of the World Malaria Day which had the theme ‘Ready to Beat Malaria’; during which WHO released a report highlighting the adverse financial, economic and developmental effects malaria has on families, nations and governments. The 2017 World Health Organization report on malaria stated ‘Sub-Saharan Africa still accounts for 90% of malaria cases and deaths worldwide, but inefficient implementation of interventions, conflict and other crises – as well as climate change – have shifted attention away from the disease’.

As part of its corporate social responsibility therefore, OVH Energy has embarked on a strategic partnership to empower communities in which it operates with the knowledge required to prevent and kick out malaria. The initiative aims to identify and tackle specific problems that will aid in eliminating and subsequently eradicating associated effects of malaria in poorand underdeveloped regions through treatment, testing, education and empowerment.

Speaking about the initiative, Chief Executive Officer, OVH Energy Marketing Ltd., Huub Stokman, reiterated OVH Energy’s commitment to enabling a better environment free from the plague of malaria. He said “Malaria presents a formidable challenge in this part of the world affecting the most vulnerable members of our society such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. We hope that with our support, local communities will have an opportunity to be properly educated on how to protect themselves from mosquitoes and thus, reduce the negative impact malaria has on health, education and employment while minimizing some of the longer term economic impacts of malaria”.

On his part, the chief environmental officer, African Clean Initiative, Mr. Alex Akhigbe, said: ‘The malaria parasite has become highly resistant to anti-malarial medication, hence making effective treatment scarce and expensive. We decided to partner with OVH Energy to educate people on how malaria can be prevented, reduced and even eradicated. We are confident that with initiatives as this, the fight against malaria can be won”.

This Roll Back Malaria Campaign was hosted alongsidespecialists and healthcare practitioners who educated the community on preventive measures and practical steps to prevent malaria outbreaks. It also featured free medical consultations and administration of anti-malarial medication; individual health counselling and the distribution of free insecticide-treated mosquito nets.