2025 malaria prevention programme, FG to cover 30 million children, adults
Malaria vaccine
FG to cover 30 million children, adults in malaria prevention programme
The Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, through the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP), has commenced preparations for the 2025 malaria season, targeting 30 million individuals, particularly children, in 21 states across the Northwest, Northeast, Northcentral, and part of Oyo State.
National Coordinator, NMEP, Dr. Nnenna Ogbulafor, told journalists at a meeting of key stakeholders reviewing the 2024 Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) in Abuja on Wednesday that significant progress has been recorded since the SMC programme commenced some years ago with a focus on endemic states.
She explained that SMC was introduced a few years ago in response to the high cases of malaria during the rainy season, after it was confirmed that a large number of children contract malaria during this period in the endemic states.
She said the objective of the meeting was to critically discuss the lessons learnt from the 2024 round of SMC implementation and to plan for the 2025 implementation based on those lessons and recommendations.
“Evidently, the SMC intervention has significantly helped tackle malaria cases, resulting in reduced cases of malaria in the endemic states, particularly during the rainy season when reported cases are high.
“There are also noticeable improvements in other interventions such as testing rates, use of recommended antimalarials, uptake of intermittent preventive treatment by pregnant women, and the use of nets.
“Despite these achievements, there is still much more to be done in tackling the scourge of malaria in Nigeria; this necessitates the need for all stakeholders to redouble efforts to meet our goal of eliminating malaria in the country within the shortest possible time.
“This has been made possible by the commitment and support of our donors, especially the Global Fund, Malaria Consortium through its philanthropic funding, and the US Presidential Malaria Initiative (PMI). We equally appreciate the immense support and cooperation rendered by implementing partners, state ministries of health, and their agencies.”
She reminded the participants of the interest of the Coordinating Minister of Health, Prof. Muhammad Pate, in reducing malaria morbidity and mortality, particularly among children, and challenged them to make valuable contributions to redefining the next round, including identifying areas of inefficiency.
NMEP SMC Focal Person, Emmanuel Shekarau, in a data presentation, confirmed that SMC has reduced malaria emergencies during the peak period (rainy season).
He explained that the annual review meeting was an opportunity to critically evaluate the performance of previous years, draw necessary lessons, and make necessary amendments for improved results.
He said: “We have conducted this SMC for several years in endemic states, and we can see the positive results in the benefiting states. But there’s room for improvement, and that’s what we want to achieve in the coming intervention.
“During the SMC intervention, which takes place across the 21 endemic states, eligible individuals, particularly children, are administered anti-malaria preventive drugs, including sulfadoxin, amodiaquine, among others. These drugs are used for preventive interventions, not for treatments.”
