The 2024 World Malaria Report has once again signalled the need for African leaders, especially in Nigeria, to adopt effective measures to tackle the epidemic and improve the quality of life in the region.
According to the report published by the World Health Organisation last week, out of 83 countries, Nigeria accounted for an estimated 40 per cent of malaria cases and 46 per cent of deaths within the 10 High Burden to High Impact countries in 2023.
The report partly read, “In 2023, Nigeria accounted for 40 per cent of estimated malaria cases and 46 per cent of estimated malaria deaths within the 10 HBHI countries, while the Democratic Republic of the Congo accounted for 20 per cent of estimated cases and 17 per cent of estimated malaria deaths within the same countries.”
Given that this report is an annual tool used to assess global progress in the fight against malaria, its figure about the mortality of the disease in Nigeria is quite alarming.
The report pointed out that it was unlikely that the HBHI countries would meet the malaria Global Technical Strategy goal of a 75 per cent reduction in cases and deaths by 2025, due to limited access to health care, ongoing conflicts, and emergencies.
Tragically, despite an estimated 2.2 billion cases of malaria and 12.7 million deaths averted since 2000, according to the WHO, the disease has remained a serious global health threat, particularly in the African region. The latest data showed that there were an estimated 263 million malaria cases and 597,000 deaths worldwide in 2023.
Alarmingly, the global health agency noted that there were around 11 million more cases of malaria in 2023 than in 2022, indicating another year of negligible progress against the age-old killer. The 597,000 deaths, a similar total to 2022, affected mostly African children aged under five years, according to the WHO.
Health experts explained that while malaria cases and deaths fell significantly between 2000 and 2015, the progress against the epidemic has stalled and even reversed, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
An estimate in a report by the National Institutes of Health showed that for a country with a population of about 120 million, N880,801 million per annum is spent on malaria—an enormous figure that impacts economic growth.
In 2023, the former Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, predicted that the economic burden of malaria in Nigeria may increase to about $2.8 billion by 2030, noting that the burden in 2022 alone was estimated at $1.6 billion.
Although new tools, including anti-malaria vaccines, mosquito nets, and medications, are available to fight mosquito-borne disease, climate change, drug and insecticide resistance, a decrepit healthcare system, and a lack of funding have all combined to challenge the response in Nigeria.
In Nigeria, malaria is a major contributor to maternal deaths. The disease accounts for 11 per cent of all maternal deaths in the country.
Conversely, Mauritius (1973), Algeria (2019), Lesotho (2012) and Cabo Verde (2024) have eliminated the malaria disease in the continent. Botswana (43.5 per cent), Eswatini (57.6 per cent) and South Africa (31.3 per cent) are making good progress against it.
Globally, only 44 countries have eliminated malaria.
Therefore, the federal and state governments must demonstrate a strong commitment towards controlling malaria through public sensitisation, creation of health schemes and initiatives, funding of medical research, provision of chemotherapeutic drugs and reviving primary healthcare centres across the country.
Government agencies need to make anti-malaria vaccines more available to children, especially in rural areas and revive the production of vaccines to combat the parasite across the country.
