World Malaria Day: UNN Research Group lauds FG’s fight against malaria

The Health Policy Research Group (HPRG), University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), has lauded the Federal Government’s effort in preventing and eradicating malaria in the country.

Dr Chinyere Okeke, a member of the research group, gave the commendation in a message to mark “2023 World Malaria Day” on Tuesday in Enugu.

Okeke, however, said that more still needed to be done in the country for the nation to have zero malaria cases.

She noted that in spite of Nigeria’s poor resources, the country was paying attention to malaria, stressing that it had keyed into the new malaria vaccines as some of its trials were done in Nigeria.

“So far, our effort on malaria issue is commendable and Nigeria also has, through malaria consortium, made efforts to mobilise resources domestically that will help in preventing and eradicating malaria,” she said.

She hinted that the research group had done series of research on malaria and its related issues, adding that this was aimed at discovering the best approaches to manage and end the disease.

Okeke, a researcher and consultant with the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) Enugu, said the FG had engaged in purchasing and distribution of insecticide treated mosquito nets in households to reduce the burden of malaria.

She also said that pregnant women had benefited so much from the government’s free treatment on intermittent preventive therapy for malaria.

“Malaria is also covered in the basic healthcare provision funds and it’s among the benefit package of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), for both it’s diagnosis and treatment.

“Nigeria is doing its best, though, we have not reached what the advanced countries have done to eradicate malaria completely but we will get there someday.

“With the incoming approved malaria vaccine, delivering zero malaria is possible in the country.”

Okeke, however, expressed worry that donors who had been funding malaria in the past were now rescinding gradually due to COVID-19 pandemic and other non-communicable diseases as many partners now channel their fund to health security and pandemic preparedness.

According to her, with COVID-19 pandemic, the need for emergency preparedness and keeping money for health security is now high, so Nigeria might not have enough resources again diverted only to malaria; that is a problem we are envisaging in future.

HPRG which is based at the College of Medicine, UNN, is drawn from the experiences of researchers across several fields in health, social, and environmental sciences through various projects such as Community-Led Responsive and Effective Urban Health Systems (CHORUS PROJECT).

CHORUS is a Consortium that brings together health systems experts from Africa, Asia, and Europe, with funding from the Medical Research Council (MRC).