DFID announces aid to combat malaria in Nigeria

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The UK Development Minister, Gillian Merron, has recently returned from the remote Nigerian village of Ungwan Doshe, where she aimed to highlight the poverty-stricken conditions in which mothers bear and raise children.

She discovered conditions for pregnant women and young children were desperate; the village has no electricity or piped water, the nearest hospital is 20km away and villagers must travel there on foot.

Gillian feels that insufficient action is being taken to alter the situation: 'The people are being let down - and with tragic consequences - by the government, who are not doing what they should be doing on healthcare and education.'

On behalf of the Department for International Development, Gillian announced there would be £50m in aid to tackle malaria given to Nigeria. The disease is one of the biggest killers of expectant mothers in the country.

Despite the bleak situation for so many Nigerians, Gillian was impressed by the attitude of the locals she met: 'They are not downtrodden but very strong and are not waiting for handouts. They simply want what's fair.'

Find out more about the major global poverty challenges and get the facts on what DFID is doing to fight them here.

Tuesday 22 July 2008

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