Nigeria records 94,070 deaths in 61million malaria cases ― Report

The World Malaria Report(WMR) has revealed that Malaria remains a major cause of hospital attendance in Nigeria especially among children under five years and pregnant women leading to an estimated 94,070 deaths and 61 million malaria cases.

Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire at the Launch of the 2021 Nigeria Malaria Indicator Survey however said significant achievements have been recorded with the huge investments made by partners and the government of Nigeria.

Ehanire who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Mamman Mahmuda said based on the trajectory in the achievements being recorded over time, there has been a gradual paradigm shift from malaria control to malaria elimination, informed by evidence tracked over the years and the use of innovative technologies in activity implementation.

Ehanire noted that it has been six years since the conduct of the last survey added that although in between those years government conducted the national health and demographic survey with malaria being one of the programmes that were tracked.

Ehanire emphasized that the government and partners have committed funding and provided technical and logistic support in the control effort.

“It is therefore expedient to assess what had been achieved and to utilize the information garnered to guide decision making and strategic planning.

“It will provide insight, among other things, on the effectiveness of the various interventions rolled out for malaria elimination in the country and give relevant information that will help us identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Ehanire further pointed out that 2021 NMIS when completed will also reflect how the key findings align with the performance framework of the operating National Malaria Strategic Plan (NMSP), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 3), the Global Technical Strategy (GTS) 2016 – 2030, and Government’s efforts in achieving the Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

“It is my hope that this 2021 NMIS will generate the much-needed data that will help us to review our strategies for combating the malaria menace in our country, identify gaps, as well as afford us the opportunity to contribute our individual and collective quota to the elimination of the disease. As the saying goes: For a malaria-free Nigeria, play your part.”

The Minister also disclosed that in the course of this survey nearly 12, 000 households in about 560 communities will be visited nationwide.

“Nearly 1,000 personnel from local guides to interviewers, nurses and biomarkers will be involved as they will collect information on various aspects of malaria some of which will be used to measure geographic and socioeconomic differences in malaria indicators; Collect a blood drop from young children for anemia and malaria parasitemia testing; as well as provide treatment for those found positive, according to the national treatment guidelines,” Ehanire noted.

Ehanire further gave a reminder that the conduct of the second NMIS in 2015 witnessed the active collaboration and support of all stakeholders States, Development Partners, Academia, Private Sector, Implementing Partners, etc.

“This collaboration, in part, gave rise to its successful achievement, providing what was needed to develop and track the National Malaria Strategic Plan, 2014 to 2020.

“It is against this background that I want to express my profound gratitude to all our Partners that have provided and are providing the needed support (both financial and technical) towards ensuring the seamless conduct of this survey.”

Also speaking, the Director of Public Health, Dr. Alex Okoh emphasized that achieving the NMEP and indeed the health sector mandate is intrinsically tied with the government’s ability to generate good data for evidence-based decision making and proper planning.

She stressed that “It is in the above light that previous surveys had been conducted and these have helped in finding the most desirable and necessary high-impact interventions that will not only place the government on a sustainable path to malaria elimination but also improve our overall health indices.

“It is therefore expected that such data generating drive should be sustained in a periodic manner, hence the reason we are here today to officially flag off the 2021 NMIS.

“The 2021 Nigeria Malaria Indicator Survey (NMIS) is a national sample survey designed to provide information for monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of malaria programs in Nigeria.

“The Nigeria MIS will involve interviewing a randomly selected sample of household respondents and women who are between 15 and 49 years of age and who live in the selected households.

“These respondents will be asked questions about their background, the children to whom they have given birth, dwelling conditions, their use of mosquito nets and antimalarial medicines for themselves and their children, and other questions that will be helpful to policymakers and administrators in controlling malaria.

“Prior to this launch, an intensive training was conducted to ensure the production of high-quality data from the fieldwork shortly to be embarked on.”

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