FG Sets Up Advisory Board on Malaria Elimination

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

The federal government has established an advisory board on Malaria Elimination in Nigeria and the Ministerial Task Force on Malaria Elimination in Nigeria

The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof.  Ali Pate while inaugurating the advisory board and ministerial taskforce, described it as a significant step to accelerate progress at malaria elimination

He explained that malaria poses a significant burden on Nigeria in terms of mortality, morbidity, lost work hours, out-of-pocket expenses, and government investments in treatments and interventions.

In a statement by his Special Assistant on Media and External Relations, Tashikalmah Hallah, the Minister emphasised that despite being preventable and treatable, malaria continues to be a major challenge for the country.

He said: “Therefore, we need a paradigm shift from the standard approach to a more proactive and result-oriented method of defeating this disease.

“On this premise, we invited academics, malaria programme experts, development partners, private sectors, civil societies, business enthusiasts, policymakers as well as the political class to a roundtable discussion to rethink the country’s approaches and strategic views on malaria, which culminated to the setting up of the Advisory for Malaria Elimination in Nigeria (AMEN), among other things agendas, and the Ministerial Task Force on Malaria in Nigeria”.

The Advisory on Malaria Elimination in Nigeria (AMEN) is chaired by Emeritus Prof. Rose Leke of University of Yaoundé, Cameroun..

Other members include: Prof. Dyann Wirth, of the Harvard School of Public Health, Dr. Soji Adeyi President, of Resilience Health System, Prof. Ibrahim Abubakar, University College, London, and Prof. Peter Piot, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Pate said that the team will offer evidence-based advisory services and meet regularly to review programme evidence and provide guidance on aligning with best practices for malaria elimination. 

He said that they will also review implementation when necessary, adding that they will meet every six months.

Pate further said that the Ministerial Task Force will consist of stakeholders from various sectors who have extensive knowledge of malaria implementation in Nigeria and are based in the country.