The 'Roll-Back-Malaria initiative, which is the latest in the efforts to combat malaria, is no longer left for government alone to handle as corporate organisations have joined in the fight against the tropical disease. One such organisation is thes Nigerian Botling Company (NBC).

A "Roll Back Malaria" campaign sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) is urging governments to devote more funding to malaria prevention and treatment, with the aim of cutting the burden of the disease by half by 2010. After several years of inattention, malaria is moving into the spotlight as cases reach epidemic proportions in the midst of growing resistance to the drugs used to combat the disease. In the first hard look at epidemiological data in 50 years, researchers say the number of deaths from malaria has been seriously underestimated.

Malaria affects 40 per cent of the global population, and it is killing children. It is a disease worth preventing, and since it could not be done with a vaccine, then there is need to do it with the tools available within, which is a combination of bednets, insecticide spraying, and mosquito control strategies, according to experts.

The disease received a great deal of attention several decades ago, and during the 1930s to the 1950s it was essentially eliminated in most temperate regions of the world. But in sub-tropical regions, where the anopheles mosquito is never killed off by cold, the infection rate has steadily risen.

Factors contributing to the soaring infection rate include increased irrigation for agriculture, dam building, deforestation, rapidly growing populations in regions of high malaria transmission, and weakened public health care systems.

The determination to tackle the disease has steadily gained momentum in recent years as international agencies, non-governmental agencies, pharmaceutical companies, and research scientists have formed collaborative anti-malaria efforts.

The problem has raised greater concern in recent years because of increased awareness of the social and economic impacts of the disease. Malaria is not an 'equal opportunity disease.' It strikes hardest in the poorest countries of the world; 90 per cent of all cases today occur in sub-Saharan Africa.

Challenged by its enormous health hazard, absenteeism from work and cost, Nigerian Botling Company (NBC) has joined organisations to battle malaria.

According to the company's human resources manager, Mr. Ladi Akinsiku, malaria constitutes a major economic burden on endemic communities in Africa including Nigeria. It reportedly cost sub-Saharan countries more than $2 billion in the past to treat the disease.

"Malaria is implicated in the reduction of human work capacity and productivity, consequently it adversely affects the socio-economic development of the nation. The disease thus constitutes a great burden on the already depressed Nigerian economy", Akinsiku said.

Besides the high number of deaths, about 500 million people contract the disease every year, triggering a vicious cycle that pushes them deeper and deeper into abject poverty. Sick people don't go to work; sick children don't go to school; parents with sick children miss days of work.

Under-5 children living in high transmission regions become chronic victims of malaria, suffering an average of six bouts a year. High fever and febrile convulsions in infants and children can retard brain development, leading to lifelong impairment of basic mental skills.

Because malaria kills so many children under the age of five, families in vulnerable regions tend to have higher fertility rates to ensure their legacy and future security, a situation that reduces access to food, education, and health care for individual children.

At NBC, malaria has been identified as a major cause of sickness responsible for about 36.8 per cent of all out-patient encounters.

In its aim to reduce the prevalence of malaria by 30 per cent by 2007, the organisation has flagged off its roll-back-back malaria programme at its Asejire plant in Ibadan.

The launch involved the presentation of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) to staff. The company noted that the use of ITNs has been recognised as a cost effective way to prevent malaria, which they said act as barriers to mosquitoes while the insecticide repel as well as cause death to the insects.

Akinsiku observed that having a clean environment, getting rid of all possible breeding sites of mosquitoes and clearing surrounding bushes are all very important steps towards the prevention of malaria. This led the company to form cleaning of environment peer education groups.

With a simple but effective intervention strategy, the company will carry out awareness campaign on malaria prevention and control, provide ITNs to staff and dependents, promote the use of it and worksite malaria control practices.

It is hoped by the organisation that the provision of ITNs is a fundamental step in ensuring a barrier between mosquitoes carrying the parasite and human lives. ITNs can reduce all-cause mortality in children under five years by 25 per cent, significant reduce maternal anaemia, pre-term deliveries and low birth weights, the company said.

"Malaria is a parasitic disease which is preventable, treatable and curable. The transmission of the parasite is facilitated through the bite of female anopheles mosquitoes which breed mainly in stagnant waters. Statistics show that there are 120 million clinical cases of malaria worldwide annually and of that number, 1.5 million people die yearly, 80 per cent in tropical Africa. It is also said to cause between 15 to 25 per cent of all deaths in children under five years old", the manager said.

According the Federal Ministry of Health, at least 50 per cent of the population suffers from at least one episode of malaria each year. Apart from focusing on the roll-back-malaria policy in its workplace, NBC has a policy of involvement in its communities. The long term commitment is to invest time, expertise and resources to provide economic opportunities, improve the quality of life and foster goodwill in the community through locally relevant initiatives.

For one thing, malaria frequently leads to severe anemia among children, which requires blood transfusions. Yet the majority of the blood available in sub-Saharan Africa is tainted with HIV, hepatitis C, and other blood-borne diseases.

Providing a comprehensive programme aimed at eradicating another killer disease, HIV/AIDS, the company recently came up with HIV/AIDS workplace care and prevention programme. The programme include comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention, awareness and treatment for employees and their spouses and children.

The company policy seeks to reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS on its staff and families and the company through effective programmes and community involvement. It also guarantees job security irrespective of HIV/AIDS status, respect of workers' right to privacy while encouraging voluntary disclosure and behavoural change through workplace education and awareness programme.

During the launch of the policy at its headquarters in Lagos recently, the managing director, Mr. Martin Marcel, disclosed that it is a four- year programme, which in actual sense is meant to continue for indefinite amount of time. Basically, he said the company has a very good in-house specialist which could deal with the programme and organise training for staff.

"The element is the fact that our employees at the moment have high level of awareness. They can act as centers of information within the society", Marcel said.

Again, Akinsiku explained that the organisation started off campaign on HIV/AIDS since 2001, which involved advising its staff on the use of condom to prevent contacting the disease. He said for two consecutive years, what NBC was doing, was to encourage its staff to know their HIV/AIDS status by using the voluntary counselling centre and treatment (VCT).

"Last year, we launched the HIV/AIDS care and support policy. We encouraged our staff on how to show love to those who are positive. How to improve the quality of life of those that are HIV-positive and how to reduce stigma and discrimination in the rank and file of our staff. They have their right to privacy. Also reasonable accommodation, which means that if a staff is HIV/AIDS positive and he does his work accordingly, he would not be sanctioned", he said.

On the issue of providing anti-retroviral treatment (ART), this he said would be available to staff and their dependents, which could include wife or husband and four children. On these activities, Akinsiku said the company has put in place for the past four years alot of workable programmes for members of its staff.

AllAfrica.com