MALARIA AND THE NEW COUNCIL

All the critical stakeholders could do more to contain the scourge

Determined to eradicate malaria in Nigeria, the federal government recently enlisted the support of some prominent business leaders to collaborate with the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, the National Assembly Joint Health Committees and women’s organisations in the country. Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Tunji Alausa, emphasised the urgency of addressing malaria prevalence in a country that accounts for over a quarter of global cases and about a third of the more than 600,000 deaths worldwide, mostly affecting children and pregnant women. “It is sad to note that malaria contributes about 25 to 30 per cent of childhood mortality and about 60 per cent of hospital attendance,” Alausa said. “Similarly, malaria is a major cause of absenteeism in schools, markets, and workplaces, as well as a significant out-of-pocket expense for most households in the country.”

To the extent that combating malaria requires multifaceted actions and partnerships involving public and private, international and Civil Society sectors, we commend the initiative and those who have agreed to serve on the Council. In recent years, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), progress in reducing malaria has ground to a standstill. “Not only does malaria continue to directly endanger health and cost lives, but it also perpetuates a vicious cycle of inequity,” WHO reports. “People living in the most vulnerable situations including pregnant women, infants, ch

ildren under five years of age, refugees, migrants, internally displaced people, and Indigenous Peoples continue to be disproportionately impacted.” More concerning, according to WHO, is that the “African Region shoulders the heaviest burden of the disease – accounting, in 2022, for 94 per cent and 95 per cent of malaria case and deaths.”

Funding for malaria control globally is also inadequate. In 2022, US$ 4.1 billion – just over half of the needed budget – was available for malaria response. Globally the number of cases in 2022 was significantly higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic, rising to 249 million from 233 million in 2019. In the same period, the African region saw an increase in cases from 218 million to 233 million. The region continues to shoulder the heaviest malaria burden, representing 94 per cent of global malaria cases and 95 per cent of global deaths, an estimated 580,000 deaths in 2022. The World Bank has revealed that over the past decade, 11 African countries have reduced confirmed malaria cases by more than 50 per cent. The bank has also reported steady progress in Nigeria.

Last October, the federal government promised that the WHO-recommended R21/Matrix-M vaccine for the prevention of malaria in children would be available in Nigeria by June. We don’t know what has happened to that plan. Yet, to the extent that defeating malaria is critical to improving maternal and child health, Nigeria cannot afford to lag. With business leaders like Aliko Dangote, Tony Elumelu, Femi Otedola and others, the hope is that the Nigerian health authorities will adopt the best possible strategy that will help in the efforts to eradicate the scourge of malaria from our country.

With Nigeria among the 11 countries that carry approximately 70 per cent of the global burden of malaria, it is important to take seriously the Yaounde Declaration signed in March this year by Ministers of Health of the continent. The pledge is to provide stronger leadership and increased domestic funding for malaria control programmes; ensure further investment in data technology; apply the latest technical guidance in malaria control and elimination; and enhance malaria control efforts at the national and sub-national levels. In signing the declaration, they expressed their “unwavering commitment to the accelerated reduction of malaria mortality” and “to hold each other and our countries accountable for the commitments outlined in this declaration.”

 We wish the new Council success in their assignment.