Ogun State Deputy Governor, Engr. Noimot Salako-Oyedele has again been decorated as ‘Ogun Net Ambassador’ by Society for Family Health (SFH), for the period of 2024 to 2027, as part of efforts to step up the insecticide treated net campaign starting from Monday, November 18 to Wednesday, November 27, 2024.
It would be recalled that the state Deputy Governor was decorated as the state Ambassador in 2021 before the official flag-off of the distribution of the nets in the state.
Engr. Salako-Oyedele, during her acceptance speech at her office, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, appreciated Society for Family Health (SFH), for honouring her and for choosing Ogun to kick-off the campaign, assuring the state’s readiness to support donor agencies towards total elimination of malaria.
She described the campaign as a lofty gesture that would harness the upward trends in the mortality rate of under five children, as well as reduce the incidence of malaria among the citizens.
“It behooves on us to support this campaign in totality, in order to get maximum benefit from it. As an ambassador, I know a lot of work lies ahead and I promise to work together with you so as to meet up with the tasks. I want to commend our team from the state for being a model to others in the country’’, the deputy Gov. said.
Engr. Salako-Oyedele urged the team to share more information on how to dispose used net properly, to prevent environmental hazard and breed of mosquitoes, reiterating the present administration’s commitment towards partnering relevant agencies in efficient healthcare delivery.
Also speaking, Commissioner for Health, Dr. Tomi Coker, said the success of the first campaign in 2021 gave the state an opportunity to flag-off the upcoming one, noting that despite distributing 3.7million in 2021, the utilisation rate was still a challenge.
‘’The statistics presented in Abuja revealed that a lot of under five years children in the state do not sleep under the net, which causes increase in mortality rate, while every other indices are at downwards, indicating a huge gap that needs urgent attention’’, he said.
Earlier in his remarks, SFH Project Director, Phar. Dangana Christopher, commended the state government for its strides in reducing the rate of malaria in the state, explaining that out of the 15 campaigns done across the country, Ogun was the best with the support of the state team, requesting the government to release its team, to help coordinate the campaign process in Delta state next year.