From Cyriacus Nnaji, Lagos
Adequate funding, provision of cost effective drugs have been advocated as parts of measures government must take to ensure the successful control of parasites and malaria in the country.
Professor Omolade Olayinka Okwa, Professor of Parasitology, Department of Zoology and Environmental Biology, Faculty of Science, made this known as the 79th Inaugural Lecturer of the Lagos State University (LASU). She spoke on the topic ‘Parasites: The Unwelcomed and Ungrateful Stranger; the Battle Line’
While delivering her lecture on Tuesday, August 10, 2021 at Buba Marwa Auditorium, Ojo Campus, Professor Okwa said “To facilitate research in malaria and NTDs along with the WHO/NTDS road map, adequate funds should be provided in the health sector. There are basic and fundamental research problems requiring little funds and gadgetry which are crying out to be solved. Health funds must be continually increased and funds from international donor agencies should be properly monitored, follow up, accounted for and not diverted.”
She also maintained that cost effective drugs is one sure way of combating parasites ‘It is the government’s responsibility to execute mass drug administration to endemic areas and this should be carried out efficiently. The rural populace in remote endemic rural areas should be of top priority. Antiparasitic drugs such as anti-protozoa (e.g. Metronidazole (Flagyl), Tinidazole), anti-helminthic (e.g. Ivermectin, albendazole, thiabendazole, Pyrantel pamoate) should be at the reach of the poor. Fortunately, most of these drugs are broad spectrum drugs and their use appears as the most cost-effective means of treating and controlling many parasitic infections.”
She further tasked government on clear cut health policies and interventions, saying that it is compulsory for the government to be aware of the relevance of parasitology to man and his health. She said that the same energy used to create awareness for COVID-19 will come a long way in curbing malaria and NTDs. The social media, radio, television should also incorporate information about parasitic diseases in their information and news schedules
Okwa added that environmental sanitation should be everybody’s business as it will go a long way to control parasites. “The monthly environmental sanitation and market sanitation should be sustained and monitored. There should be efforts to stop open defecation, water control from feacal contamination and improved conditions of living.”
Still on what government should do to control malaria, Okwa made some other recommendations saying “In malaria control, mosquitoes are the weak link in the chain so the destruction of their larvae habitats, improved drainage systems, clearing out water ways, proper sewage systems should be of high priority. Education of the populace on mosquito breeding and habitats should include clearing bushes, cleaning drainages and open gutters, destruction and removal of containers, plants, tires, sachets, and anything that can hold water.
“It is important for the Nigerian government to key into the W.H.O goals and other malaria control agencies such as Roll back malaria (RBM), Action and investment to defeat malaria (AIM), Malaria No More (MNM) and CDC. There is a need to meet up with neglected interruptions associated with malaria in this COVID-19 era.
“The most effective way to prevent a disease is by vaccination which stimulates the host protective immune response. A malaria vaccine produced by the University of Oxford team has proved to be 78% effective in early trials and could be a major breakthrough against malaria. This R21 vaccine is the first to reach the W.H. O’s goal of at least 75% efficacy. When trialed among 450 children in Burkina Faso, the vaccine was found to be safe, and showed “high-level efficacy” over 12 months of follow-up. The trials of this malaria vaccine started in 2019, long before coronavirus appeared – and the Oxford team developed its COVID vaccine (with AstraZeneca) on the strength of its research into malaria vaccines,” she stated.
She maintained that the R21 vaccine should be welcomed in Nigeria. Then, the government can create awareness on the need for children as a vulnerable group to be vaccinated against malaria just as the interventions and awareness made for COVID-19.
Her recommendations to individuals on Malaria prevention include avoiding malariogenic activities. She encouraged sleeping in well ventilated rooms or under insecticide treated mosquito nets and wearing of protective clothing. “Screen your doors and windows and use safe insecticides or mosquito repellants. Objects, excavations, plants, empty soft drink bottles and anything that can hold water must be eliminated in homes. Water storage containers in homes should always be covered and dispose unused ones. Place useful containers upside down under a roof or seal with a tight cover. Change frequently water troughs of domestic animals and garden flower pots in homes. Keep trash cans tightly sealed and drill a hole at the bottom in order not to retain water that may serve as breeding sites.
“Tree hole-fillings must be carried out regularly and fill up eroded soils, natural depressions, excavations and empty rain-filled receptacles around the home. Swimming pools in homes should not be left unused and untreated. Drainage systems, ditches, and gutters must not be dumped with waste to avoid clogging, thereby making them stagnant for mosquitoes to breed. Outdoor pyrethrum spraying of domestic animal shelters, garages, and outdoor latrines is essential and spraying oil on stagnant pools to kill mosquito aquatic stages. The use of larvicides such as Paris green, application of petroleum oils on surfaces of stagnant water is recommended because it asphyxiates the larvae stages of mosquitoes.
Earlier defined two major terms which threw more light on the topic of the day and consequently ensure that her audience understood the topic better.
The first was to define a Zoologist. She said “I am a proud Zoologist with specialization in Parasitology. Zoology is the branch of biology that deals with the study of animals in all aspects of life. Zoologists are lovers of animals and so a Zoologist is a person that studies animals in all ramifications and in relation to their environment.
Quoting Otubanjo (2007) she defined Parasitology as an aspect of symbiology, which deals with the study of parasites. It is the study of the biology of parasites and their interactions with their hosts (Cox, 2004). “Parasitology is synonymous with Medical Zoology or Sanitary Zoology and combines medical and ecological science which encompasses the study of parasites and the diseases they cause. It emphasizes classification of parasites, identification and elucidation of their life cycles and factors affecting their distribution thus gaining insights into their prevention and control.”
