Estimated reading time: 5 minute(s)
Fawaz Adebisi
The House of Representatives has said that malaria is still a big threat in the country because Nigerians have failed to use local content to fight against the disease.
According to the House Spokesperson, Benjamin Kalu, in a statement while commemorating this year’s ‘World Malaria Day’, four African countries, including Nigeria, accounted for over half of all malaria deaths worldwide.
The statement, however, lamented that Nigerians, despite having local content, still contributes greatly to the numbers of people dying of the disease yearly.
The statement read, “Nigeria alone accounted for (31.3%) of global malaria deaths, followed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo (12.6%), the United Republic of Tanzania (4.1%), and Niger (3.9%).
“In Nigeria, malaria remains a significant public health challenge with an estimated 97 million cases and 300,000 deaths annually. Although progress has been made in reducing the burden of this disease, much work still needs to be done to eliminate it.
“Hence, the 9th National Assembly has identified lack of Domestic Financing and lack of use of local content in terms of production and patronage of local manufacturing of LLINs (long-lasting insecticidal nets) and antimalarial drugs as a key challenge.”
It added that the key areas of challenge to address the Malaria burden in Nigeria have been issues of donor dependence for malaria intervention in the country.
“To address this, the sum of over $300 million has been approved under the World Bank and the Islamic Bank IMPACT projects to address and compliment donor support,” he said.
The theme of this year’s celebration is “Time to deliver zero malaria: invest, innovate, implement,”
It is with a particular focus on the implementation of strategies to reach especially the vulnerable age group children under 5 years and Pregnant women.
Estimated reading time: 1 minute(s)
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