The Kogi State Government, in partnership with the Malaria Consortium and the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP), is set to distribute over 3,141,485 Insecticide-Treated Nets (ITNs) to households across the 21 local government areas of the state.
The State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Abdulazeez Adams Adeiza, disclosed this on Thursday, October 29, 2026, during a press briefing in Lokoja detailing the state’s universal ITN coverage campaign.
Adeiza, represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mr. Enoch Maji, noted that the distribution campaign will run from November 8 to November 15, 2026.
He stated that the exercise represents Kogi State’s first statewide free ITN mass distribution in nine years, urging residents to maximize the opportunity to curb malaria transmission.
Highlighting health data, Adeiza pointed out that Nigeria accounts for 24.3 percent of the global malaria burden, with the World Health Organization (WHO) reporting that malaria contributes to 30.3 percent of the 579,000 annual global malaria fatalities.
He cited the 2025 Nigeria Malaria Indicator Survey (NMIS), which recorded a drop in national malaria prevalence from 22 percent in 2021 to 15.2 percent in 2025, with Kogi State recording a lower prevalence rate of 8.9 percent.
The commissioner emphasized that malaria remains a major driver of economic loss and absenteeism in schools, offices, and agricultural sectors, adding that proper use of ITNs reduces malaria incidence by 50 percent in sub-Saharan Africa.
Also speaking, the External Communication Advisor for the Malaria Consortium, Olubunmi Ojelade, explained that uniformed field personnel bearing official logos will conduct door-to-door registration and net distribution on the basis of one net for every two persons per household.
Ojelade advised beneficiaries to air newly received nets in the shade for 24 hours prior to use and maintain them properly through periodic washing, noting that each treated net is designed to retain effectiveness for three years.
