The Federal Government has revealed that Nigeria still accounts for 25 percent of global malaria burden, and 19 percent of global deaths from the sickness.
The Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole disclosed this Thursday in Abuja at an event to commemorate 2019 World Malaria Day, and said the Nigerian government was ‘anxiously’ waiting for the result of pilot RTSS/ASO1, world’s first antimalarial vaccine, recently introduced in Malawi, and said the success of the vaccine would catalyse global efforts at eliminating malaria.
The Minister said that more commitments were being made by the country with the help of its development partners to eliminate the scourge.
“We are fully committed to malaria elimination. We have developed innovative programmes that will increase access to funds for malaria programme implementation, some of which include the Basic Health Care Provision Fund, the Save One Million Lives Project, and we are also soliciting for additional funding support for malaria programme,” he said.
Speaking on the theme of the commemoration “Zero Malaria Starts with Me,” with the slogan “Join Me,” according to Adewole couldn’t have come at a better time as it a reflection of government’s commitment to the achievement of a malaria-free Nigeria. He said the revealed government’s desire to have all people in the country to come on board in the fight against the disease.
He noted that everyone in the country has a role to play in an effort to eliminate the scourge.
“Malaria is still a public health challenge. According to the World Malaria Report, Nigeria still accounts for 25% of the global malaria burden. We also account for 19% of deaths from malaria.
“Though funding for malaria control has remained relatively stable since 2010, we need to improve on the level of our investment to achieve a reduction of at least 40% in malaria case incidence and mortality rates globally by 2020. The WMD celebration therefore provides us the opportunity to review our strategies and up the tempo with a view to reducing significantly the burden of malaria in our beloved country.
“Let me inform you that we are fully committed to malaria elimination. We have developed innovative programmes that will increase access to funds for malaria programme implementation,” the minister said.
According to him, some of these include the Basic Health Care Provision Fund, the Save One Million Lives Project, while Nigerian is also asking for additional funding support for malaria programme.
“I must inform you that we are recording a steady reduction in the malaria burden. The 2013 NDHS showed that malaria was responsible for two out of 10 deaths in children less than five years, as against 30% in previous years. The NMIS 2015 showed a remarkable reduction in the malaria prevalence from 42% (NMIS 2010) to 27% which resulted from a strong commitment from government and partners in their efforts to stem malaria. We look forward to the results of the NDHS 2018 for data on the current status of malaria,” he stated.
The Minister disclosed that President Mohammadu Buhari had in 2018 approved an incentive funding of $18.5 million for procurement of Long Lasting Insectcide Treated Nets(LLIN).
He disclosed that Nigeria carried out LLINs replacement campaigns in eight States (Ogun, Jigawa, Katsina, Gombe, Nasarawa, Kebbi, Akwa-Ibom, Bauchi) with support from our partners – GF, PMI/USAID, CRS and SFH.
According to the Minister, Information, Communication, Technology for Development (ICT4D) was deployed for the LLINs replacement campaign implementation, in four of the Global Fund supported States,
In all, a total of Twenty-four Million, Seven Hundred and Thirty Thousand, Eight Hundred and Ninety-six (24,730,896) LLINs were distributed across the eight States.
He disclosed that 7,200 LLINs were also distributed in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in Adamawa State.
“As you all know, the campaigns are done every 3 years in each state of the Federation based on the life span of the nets. This is to ensure that our people are continuously protected from the scourge of malaria.
“In order to ensure effective monitoring of the malaria vector, we have gone further to establish three (3) new sentinel sites for vector surveillance in Osun, Niger and Kano States.
These efforts, he said, had increased the number of vector sentinel sites in the country to fourteen
“Currently, a drug efficacy therapeutic test is on-going to assess the efficacy of recommended antimalarial drugs (ACTs, AA, DHP and Pyramax) in additional four sites.”
The Minister, highlighted the roles of individuals in attacking the scourge to include keeping their environment clean; sleeping inside long-lasting insecticidal nets; go for test when feeling feverish; and if positive, ensure they are treated with artemisinin based combination therapy (ACT).
Oyin Aminu, Abuja
