Mortein partners Lagos, deepens consumer education on malaria eradication

In line with its vision of providing its consumers with healthier and happier lives, Mortein, Nigeria’s leading insecticide brand, on April 25, the date set aside each year as World Malaria Day, carried out a community engagement in partnership with the Lagos State Ministry of Health, to educate its consumers on ways to prevent the deadly disease and also gave out free cans of its product to hundreds of Nigerians.

Speaking at the community engagement, held at Tego Barracks open field, Marine Beach in Apapa, Oguzhan Silivrili, the marketing director, West Africa, Reckitt Benckiser, assured Nigerians of Mortein’s unshaken commitment to the fight against malaria all across the country.

‘‘The vision and mission of RB (Reckitt Benckiser) globally is actually providing consumers healthier lives and happier homes. That is our vision, and that is why we up wake every day, and go to the office to create innovative solutions for the consumers. To achieve that vision, we see that malaria is a serious threat to the health of the consumers and that is why we are taking it very seriously and partnering with government to fight against it,’’ he said.

Silivrili said the company’s decision to partner with all levels of government and fight malaria aligned with its mission and vision of providing consumers with healthier lives and happier homes. He said for this reason, Mortein Anti-Malaria Campaign was launched in Nigeria and across some other African countries two years ago as part of the company’s corporate social responsibility.

The Marketing Director also pointed out that in furtherance of the campaign against Malaria, around 500,000 new mothers in Nigeria would be engaged through series of awareness and education programmes that would help them to be free from the disease this year.

Silivrili explained that the intervention became necessary due to the alarming death rate among children under the age of five and pregnant women as a result of malaria, noting that Malaria has become a global health concern as millions of deaths are reported to occur annually due to malaria while in Africa alone, over 3,000 children are said to die daily from malaria. ‘‘As I speak to you, millions of people are suffering from malaria all over the world and 3,000 kids in Africa reportedly die daily from malaria,’’ he said.

Giving the scorecard of the Mortein Anti-Malaria Campaign, he said, ‘‘we began the anti-malaria campaign two years ago and we have made significant progress, and now we are taking it to the next level this year. So, we are going to 500,000 new moms to educate them because our idea is not just giving the fish, but also educating the people on how to fish.’’

OLUSEGUN ABISOYE