No fewer than 16,992 children below the age of five were treated of malaria under the EU/UNICEF Maternal, New-born and Child Health and Nutrition (MNCHN) project in Adamawa.
The Disease Surveillance and Notification Officer of Fufore Local Government Area, Mr Sa’id Umar, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Fufore town.
Umar said the children located in hard to reach remote villages were attended to by Community Oriented Resource Persons (CORPs) between 2018 and November 2019.
Umar said Fufore has 240 CORPs provided with the necessary training by the Adamawa State Primary Healthcare Agency for testing and managing mild malaria cases.
He said that the CORPs were always armed with malaria drugs, antibiotics and Oral Rehydration Solution to go round house-to-house in the remote areas identifying sick people particularly children.
“They treat those with minor illness such as mild malaria, while those with more serious cases and those above five years including pregnant and nursing mothers were referred to the nearest primary healthcare centre.
“Corps are also very useful in reporting any strange illness; for instance just recently one of the Corps drew my attention to a sick child with the symptoms of one of those children child diseases and we immediately went into action by collecting sample which has been sent for laboratory test,” Umar said.
While commending the effective role of the CORPs in helping to fight diseases in communities without access to health centres, Umar said that to make them more effective, the CORPs undergo quarterly training to enhance them and have supervisors who monitor them.
Speaking on the activities of CORPs in his community, the village Head of Nafori, Malam Jauro Nafori, said his people were happy and impressed with the role of CORPs in bringing healthcare to their doorsteps.
“This programme gives us a sense of belonging and makes us feel the government really care about our healthcare,” Nafori said.
Modibbo Baraya of Janjanre village and Mr Babangida Liman of Mbewere village also lauded the CORP initiative, describing it as one of the most positive government steps in areas of healthcare delivery.
Malam Sa’adu Yuguda, a 28-year-old CORP in Mbewere village, said he has been a proud member of the CORPs for the past two years.
