War Against Mosquitoes As Mortein Launches New Insect Eradicator

Saturday, 20 December 2014

War Against Mosquitoes As Mortein Launches New Insect Eradicator

In a bid to annihilate mosquitoes (notorious malaria transmitter ) prominent anti-malaria brand, Mortein [a product of Reckitt Benckiser Nigeria Plc] launched its new variant, Mortein Automatic Insect Control System in Abuja on Tuesday.

This remodelled version of Mortein is made from natural extracts and can last as much as four weeks with more than 2,000 bursts of sprays that ooze out at regular, 15-minute interval to provide continuous protection against crawling and flying insects.

A crowded key government officials graced the launching of the product, above all the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) as well as Abuja trade teams and sales agents, were in attendance to offer opportunity that will espouse the unique benefits of the new Mortein automatic insect control system to all present.

During the event, the Marketing Director, West Africa, Reckitt Benckiser, Oguzhan Silivrili who was represented by the Brand Manager, Mortein, Ms. Iku Ejiro, disclosed that the development of the new product was informed by the need to stem the prevalence of malaria scourge in the country and Africa generally.

According to him, there are estimated 300 million acute cases of malaria every year around the world, resulting in more than one million deaths while approximately 90 percent of these deaths occur in Africa, mostly in young children.

Silivrili lamented the high malaria prevalence in Nigeria as ‘‘unacceptable’’, saying ‘‘malaria is responsible for 60 percent of outpatient visits to health facilities, 30 percent of childhood deaths, 25 percent of deaths in children under one year and 11 percent of maternal deaths.’’

“Malaria can be eliminated in Nigeria which is the reason Reckitt Benckiser is taking the lead. We have made strategic partnership with the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP), the lead agency of the Federal Ministry of Health on the elimination of malaria; also, we work closely with the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) and other relevant government bodies’ Silivrili said.

“We also have the Anti-malaria education-New mum program reaching out to over 500,000 mums, our Primary Health Centre (PHC) activations reaching over 10,000 mums and the church/mosque activations in top 5 cities in Nigeria’.

“In the last few years, we have moved pan-Nigeria with our Anti-Malaria Campaign by equipping Nigerians with the right information on how to protect themselves from mosquitoes and stay healthy. “Our New Mum Programmes (NMP) has reached approximately 5 million new moms in the hospitals since inception; we also have the mobile clinic, Health on Wheels (HOW) going door-to-door across Nigeria and open market activations in top 15 states in Nigeria. We have also enjoyed massive exploit across digital platforms, especially through our Youtube infomercial with the National Coordinator of National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP), Dr. Nnenna Ezeigwe, engendering almost 2 million impressions in Nigeria,’’ he stated.

Also speaking at the product launch, the National Coordinator, National Malaria Elimination Programme, Dr. Nnenna Ezeigwe, commended Reckitt Benckiser for its unrelenting effort to eliminate Malaria in Nigeria.

“I commend Reckitt Benckiser for collaborating effectively with the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) in the fight against Malaria. This partnership stems from supporting the annual World Malaria Day commemorations to effective dissemination of behavior change communication messages, and ultimately increasing malaria visibility in Nigeria. NMEP is committed to working with Reckitt Benckiser and other stakeholders to facilitate increased support for Malaria programme,” Ezeigwe said.

The Mortein automatic insect control system which is safe to use when the room is properly ventilated is available at a cost of N2000 for the complete set and N1100 for the refill pack across stores nationwide.