Kantar Nigeria, Others Intensify Fight against Malaria

By Dipo Olowookere

Malaria has remained a disease that has given the world too many worries despite the huge campaign and money in the fight against the menace.

This year, as in the past, the World Malaria Day was held, but with the theme ‘Ready to Beat Malaria’, emphasising the readiness of stakeholders to bring the disease to its knees.

Already, the WHO’s Global Technical Strategy for Malaria 2016-2030 aims to reduce malaria case incidence and malaria mortality rates by at least 90% on or before 2030.

To achieve this, Kantar Nigeria and Non-Such HMO partnered to target more than 1,000 Nigerians to support the global vision of the WHO in eradicating malaria.

According to UNICEF in a message to mark the day in New York, “Four out of five malaria deaths occur in one of 15 countries, most of them in Sub-Saharan Africa, with more than one in three deaths in Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”

So far, “progress on malaria is beginning to show signs of stagnation. In 2016, 91 countries reported a combined total of 216 million malaria cases – five million more than in 2015…that Rwanda and Nigeria saw an increase of over 1.5 million cases of malaria in 2016.”

Achieving a Malaria-Free society is at the core of Kantar Nigeria’s Corporate Social Responsibility agenda.

Last year, all Kantar Brands, in partnership with Rotary International and Non-Such HMO, impacted the lives of Nigerians through an awareness campaign on malaria prevention and eradication, health education, distribution of Long Lasting Insecticide Treated nets (LLIN) and malaria medication.

The 2018 event included a 2-day awareness drive within the host community on the 19th and 24th of April, to enlighten members of the community about the event and its importance, emphasizing the benefit they stood to gain on attendance, which included education on Malaria prevention and control methods, conducting free malaria testing, distribution of LLIN as well as medication.

The event was a huge success, as over 80 members of staff across all Kantar Brands in Nigeria volunteered to cater to more than 1000 individuals in attendance. This included 300 pregnant women, 200 Nursing mothers, and 200 children under the age of 5. Kantar and its partners were able to distribute more than 500 LLITN to the participants.

Some of the volunteers included Aggrey Maposa, Managing Director, Kantar Nigeria, Mariam Fagbemi, Director Kantar Public Nigeria, Eddington Danda, Executive Director, Kantar TNS Nigeria, Ugo Geri–Robert, Managing Director Kantar Millward Brown Nigeria, Fikayo Aremu, Account Director, FINTECH Research, Augustina Umunna, Director Kantar World Panel Nigeria, Dr. Gerald Ezeani, MBBS (Nig),Head of Clinical Services Non- Such Medicare Ltd amongst others.

Kantar Nigeria is a brand that is fully dedicated to supporting the WHO’s drive to prevent, control and eradicate malaria in Nigeria.