The Lagos Country Club, Ikeja, Lagos, has raised awareness of malaria disease through a swimming competition to sensitise members, children, and adults, to the prevention and treatment of the pandemic.

The club’s President, Funmi Bamkole, stated this, according to a statement on Sunday, during the 8th edition of ‘Swim against malaria,’ competition organised in Lagos.

Bamkole said, “The swimming competition is an awareness against malaria disease that is ravaging Nigeria for years killing both young and old, and also at a time when the world is celebrating World Mosquito Day. We must reiterate that, ‘mosquito is not your friend.’”

The chairman of the organising committee, Dr Laja Adesina, explained that the event was organised to bring members, children, and adults, together, to create awareness on how to prevent and treat malaria.

Adesina said, “Swimming is a very good recreation endeavour, and we try connecting swimming, with malaria, in a bid to raise awareness. The swimming section has children and members that come to swim on regular basis. We invited some clubs and also collaborated with the officials of Lagos State Swimming Federation, in an effort to raise awareness against malaria.

“We are concerned about the recent malaria scourge among children and adults as the World Health Organisation recorded a scourge of over 200 thousand death, with about 1.5 million infections of malaria in Nigeria in 2021.”

A member of the Governing Board, Lagos State Sport Commission, Olanrewaju Saidi, commended the initiative as a good one that should be promoted by all.

“Sport and health go hand in hand, and so, having this happen as sports and malaria, we are also talking about sport and health. Let us see how more we can interface between sport and health, and of course, we know that health is exercising our body; sports is the greatest exercise that we can do, so the relationship between these two, sport and health, should be highly promoted,” he said.