WHO lauds Nigeria’s 55% malaria deaths fall

By Joyce Remi-Babayeju

The World Health Organization, WHO, Representative for Nigeria, Dr. Walter Kazadi Molombo has lauded Nigeria over efforts at bringing down it’s malarial deaths by 55% and malaria incidences by 26% .

Mulombo gave this commendation during the launch of the 2022 Nigeria Malaria Report yesterday in Abuja.

Mulombo stated that although Nigeria accounts for around 27% of the global burden of malaria cases, but the country has recorded major progress in improving the health of its population.

” Malaria incidence has fallen by 26% since 2000 – from 413 per 1000 to 302 per 1000 in 2021. Malaria deaths also fell by 55%, from 2.1 per 1000 population to 0.9 per 1000 population.”

Speaking further, Mulombo disclosed that the country has recorded progress on HIV between 2015 and 2021, meeting two of the 95-95-95 goals, and tuberculosis, adding that the country’s intervention coverage is improving, with increasing case detection over the same period.

He stated that Nigeria’s population size is also a challenge on scaling up interventions.

“Surveillance systems, which pick up less than 40% of the country’s malaria data; inadequate funding to ensure universal interventions across all states; and health seeking behaviour, where people use the private sector, with limited regulation, preferentially.”

Meanwhile, the WHO Nigeria Lead, said that The 2022 Malaria Report on Nigeria is an excellent model to use data to prioritize health interventions.

Using data, we can prioritize and target interventions, optimize allocation of resources and facilitate the monitoring of performance at federal and state levels, Mulombo stressed.

The Malaria report is a compendium of critical information and data on the status of malaria in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, in Nigeria .

“It provides data at the State level to guide a truly subnational response to malaria, providing an overview of the malaria situation across all States, focusing on population demographics, malaria interventions, climate, and disease burden, Mulombo explained.

Thew Report is a collaboration between the Nigeria Malaria Elimination Programme, the WHO Regional Office for Africa, and the Global Malaria Programme.