by Damilola Jagun

In furtherance of its commitment to provide innovative solutions to make life easier and healthier, leading anti-malaria brand, Mortein from the stables of Reckitt Benckiser launched its new variant, Mortein automatic insect control system recently.

The most anticipated Mortein automatic insect control system is made from natural extracts and can last up to four weeks with more than 2,000 bursts of sprays that ooze out at regular interval to provide continuous protection against crawling and flying insects. The revolutionary Mortein Automatic insect control system is the latest addition to the Mortein brand that kills 100% Mosquitoes.

The product launch which held pan-nigeria in eight major cities; Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Ibadan, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Calabar and Warri had in attendance key government officials especially from the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) as well as trade teams, distributors and sales agents, offered opportunity to espouse the unique benefits of the new Mortein automatic insect control system to all present.

Speaking about the launch of the new variant of Mortein, the Marketing Director, West Africa, Reckitt Benckiser, Oguzhan Silivrili represented by the Brand Manager, Mortein, Ms. Iku Ejiro, said 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 decried 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.’’

He affirmed Reckitt Benckiser’s commitment to the elimination of malaria in the country even as he was optimistic that effective collaboration and implementation of targeted initiatives could make this achievable.

‘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.

Silivrili explained further that despite the large number of people reached in Nigeria, Reckitt Benckiser is not relenting on the journey because there is need to rescue many more Nigerians from malaria scourge. “This is the philosophy behind the launch of the new Mortein automatic insect control system. It is the first of its kind in Nigeria, providing a convenient and preventive option against malaria without electricity,’’ he added.

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.