…as Nigeria secures $300m World Bank, Islamic Bank funds to fight malaria
By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
As a way of tackling malaria scourge amid COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria, the National Malaria Elimination Programme, NMEP, said it has reached at least 13 million under five children with the seasonal Chemo prevention intervention in 9 states.
The National Coordinator of the NMEP, Dr. Audu Bala Mohammed made this known at the 2nd 2020 Bi Annual Media Chat in Abuja today.
In his opening speech, Dr Mohammed said, ” I am also glad to report that for Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention , SMC, a preventive measure targeting children between 3 and 59 months of age in 9 states that had being planned to reach.”
He disclosed that the 9 states captured in the SMC intervention are Bauchi, Borno, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara States.
He explained that the SMC is to administer a particular prevention of under five, U5, children living in malaria high risk regions, adding that the programme was very successful in reducing malaria burden in children.
In the same way the NMEP also distributed insecticide treated nets, ITNs, to 56.7 million people across eleven states namely Adamawa, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Enugu, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Kwara, Oyo, Plateau, Osun, and Zamfara, adding that another 17 million ITNs were distributed in states like Borno, Enugu and the FCT without donor support giving a 95% coverage.
Meanwhile, the National Director of NMEP, Federal Ministry of Health, Professor Olugbenga Mukoula disclosed that in a drive to eliminate malaria in Nigeria, the NMEP has secured $200 million from the World Bank to support malaria prevention in six states and a cut cutting intervention in 13 states with an additional $100 million secured from the Islamic Development Bank to support malaria fight in five states within the period of 2021 to 2023.
According to Mokuolu, Nigeria accounts for 25% of global malaria burden with 53 million cases annually, with an additional 80,000 people dying from malaria fever annually.
In a presentation titled ” Delivering Malaria Intervention in the context of COVID-19: How have we fared” Professor Mokuola said that the agency through some of its interventions introduced as a result of the pandemic have recorded some success of a drop in malaria cases in the country.
Speaking on how the malaria agency has fared in the last one year amid the COVID-19 pandemic he said that the agency changed strategy from using distribution points to the house -to – house method for distribution of 17,398,201 Long Lasting Mosquito Treated Nets, LLMNs in six states namely Adamawa, Venue, Zamfara, Kwara, Ogun and Plateau.
” In 2019, the records indicated a monthly national average of 2,337,794, fever cases that reported at health facilities of which 2,117,783(91%) were tested , and of which anti- malarials which represented a slightly higher number of fever and malaria cases send in 2019 compared to 2020.”
He further noted that due to the stigma associated with COVID-19 majority of the people delayed in seeking health care in health facilities and resorted to self care due to dear of being labelled, adding that Frontline workers were sometimes also isolated in the course of carrying out their duties.
Daybreak reports that the 2nd Bi- Annual Media Chat of the NMEP held in Abuja today with a theme: ” Delivering Malaria Intervention in the Context of COVID-19: How we have fared’.
