WorldStage Newsonline– As the theme for the 2018 World Malaria Day with the theme “Ready to Beat Malaria” is marked across the world, the World Health Organisations (WHO) has declared that Nigeria is not yet among African countries who have made significant progress in eliminating malaria.
This is coming as a non-governmental organization (NGO), Lift Above Poverty Organisation (LAPO) estimated that the country losses about N132 billion to Malaria annually through treatment costs, prevention and loss of man-hour.
Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO Regional Director of Africa, in her message to commemorate the “World Malaria Day 2018” in Abuja on Wednesday, said 14 countries with the world’s biggest malaria problem were in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Moeti said these countries still accounted for 80 per cent of the global burden of malaria with 194 million new cases and 410,000 deaths recorded in 2016 alone.
She however said some countries in the region have witnessed a decrease in malaria cases and deaths showing significant potential to eliminate malaria by 2020.
According to Moeti, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Senegal, Gambia and Zimbabwe are among 16 countries globally that witnessed a decrease in malaria cases and deaths by more than 20 per cent between 2015 and 2016.
She said that Algeria, Botswana, Cape Verde, Comoros, South Africa and Swaziland could potentially eliminate malaria by 2020.
The WHO regional director expressed concern over the slow pace of progress in some African countries with significant gaps in the implementation measures to eliminate the disease.
Moeti said international and domestic funding for malaria prevention and control has also stagnated in the region.
“Some countries in the African region recorded the biggest rise of malaria testing in the public sector from 36 per cent of suspected cases in 2010 to 87 per cent in 2016.
“Over half the people at risk of malaria across sub-Saharan Africa have been sleeping under insecticide-treated nets for the past five years indicating some success in behaviour change and outreach campaigns.
“This progress needs to be sustained. Eliminating malaria requires above all political leadership at the highest level as well as leadership of programmes, resource mobilisation, inter sectoral and cross-border collaboration.
“We are ready to beat malaria but the pace of progress must be accelerated to achieve a 40 per cent drop in global malaria cases and deaths by 2020 compared to 2015 levels,” Moeti said.
She said that the world malaria day was an occasion to renew political commitment and continue investing in malaria prevention and control.
The regional director said the day also focuses global attention on malaria and its devastating impact on families, communities and development.
Moeti called on countries still affected by malaria to work with development partners to boost investments in malaria prevention and control, especially in new tools to combat the scourge.
She said: “This will propel countries along the road to elimination and contribute to the achievement of other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) such as improving maternal and child health.’’
The theme for the 2018 World Malaria Day stresses the need to accelerate efforts to defeat malaria and remind countries of their commitment to end malaria epidemic by 2030 as one of the SDGs.
The Federal Government on April 22, committed to securing $300 million from the World Bank, Islamic Development Bank and African Development Bank to eliminate malaria in the country.
The government also pledged additional $18.7 million to leverage on $37 million from the Global Fund Grant to enable it distribute 15 million mosquito nets and support local manufacturing of essential malaria commodities.
NIGERIA LOSSES N132B TO MALARIA
Ms Sabina Idowu-Osehobo, the Executive Director of LAPO disclosed on Wednesday at the 2018 World Malaria Day sensitisation programme that Nigeria losses about N132 billion to Malaria annually.
The event was held in Meiran Community, Agbado Oke-Odo Local Council Development Area (LCDA) of Lagos State.
The programme, organised by LAPO Lagos 2 Region, had “Ready to Beat Malaria,” as its theme.
Idowu-Osohobo represented by the Regional officer, LAPO Lagos 2, Mrs Sandra Asowata, said that Malaria constituted a huge epidemiologic burden in Africa and had continued to cripple the economic development in the region.
According to her, Malaria remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality in Nigeria with all year transmission and 97 per cent of the population at risk.
She said Nigeria also accounted for 32 per cent of the global estimate of 655,000 malaria deaths annually.
She said that the victims were mostly pregnant women with their unborn babies and children below the age of five years.
Idowu-Osehobo said: “Malaria is responsible for 60 per cent out-patient visits to health facilities, 30 per cent childhood death, 25 per cent of death in children under one year and 11 per cent maternal death in Nigeria.
“Malaria is a major cause of increasing household poverty and slow phase of national development.
“The financial loss due to malaria annually is estimated to be about N132 billion in form of treatment costs, prevention, loss of man-hours, yet the disease is a treatable and completely eradicable.”
She noted that collective effort was therefore needed to beat the scourge of Malaria in the country.
“We believe that with collective efforts of everyone – international partners, government at all levels, business sectors, NGOs, community stakeholders and direct beneficiaries, we are ready to beat Malaria,” she said.
According to her, LAPO will continue to collaborate with the Roll Back Malaria Partnership and the Nigeria’s National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) in their quest to end the disease.
She said that LAPO activities for malaria prevention were aimed at reducing the social and economic burdens of malaria on individuals and the society.
“In 2017, LAPO distributed thousands of information materials, treated bed nets and provided free malaria screening services to 38,593 beneficiaries across our target communities.,’’ she said.
Idowu-Osehobo said: “A total of 946 stakeholders from local government councils, primary health care facilities and target communities participated in our 2017 World Malaria Day events with the theme: ‘A Push for Prevention’.
“LAPO will continue to support every malaria control effort of Government of Nigeria to show that we are “Ready to Beat Malaria”.
“We believe that beating malaria means healthier societies, increased attendance at school and work, more productive communities, and stronger economies.
“Beating malaria is critical to ending poverty, and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of ending poverty in all its forms.
“It is also in line with Goal 3.3 which is to end epidemics of AIDS, TB, Malaria and neglected tropical diseases by 2030,” she said.
LAPO sensitized the community members on how to keep their environment clean in order to curb the spread of Malaria.
It also distributed free treated bed nets to the community residents as well as conducted free Malaria and blood pressure tests for them.
NEW ANTI-MALARIA VACCINES UNDERWAY
Prof. Catherine Falade, a Malariologist and Consultant Clinical Pharmacologist at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, has said that new antimicrobial malaria vaccines will soon be released into the market.
Falade, also a researcher on Pharmacology and Therapeutics at the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan on Wednesday said, “New researches are on-going to develop new antimicrobial medicines and vaccines to tackle malaria- resistance which has now become a burden to public health.
“This development would assist in stemming the scourge of antimicrobial resistance which has become a global threat to health care.
“Antibiotic resistance is present in every country. Patients with infections caused by drug-resistant bacteria are at risk of worse clinical outcomes and death.
“They consume more health-care resources than patients infected with non-resistant strains of the same bacteria.
“As at July 2016, resistance to the first –line treatment for P. falciparum malaria(Artemisinin-based combination therapies also known as (ACTs), has been confirmed in five countries of the Greater Mekong sub –region.
“The Greater Mekong sub-region include Cambodia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, ‘’ she said.
According to the researcher, the spread of resistant strains to other parts of the world, including Nigeria, has now become a major public health challenge.
She called for coordinated action globally to minimise the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance to malaria, adding that “ all countries need national action plans for malaria-resistant drugs.’’
