FACTSHEET: Malaria and mosquito nets distribution in Nigeria
In the last week of October 2021, the media reported that the Nigerian government proposed to secure a loan of $200 million to procure mosquito nets to prevent Malaria in 13 of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The loan, which was to be secured under the Federal Ministry of Health malaria programme, was kicked against by lawmakers.
The Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Health, Mahmuda Mamman, who justified the proposal before the panel, said, “The loan if approved by the National Assembly and accessed, will be used to medically fight malaria in the 13 orphan states which cover 208 local government Councils and 3, 536 primary health care centres”.
Furthermore, the report generated a conversation on social media which raised multiple questions.
What percentage of Nigerians are affected by Malaria?
The 2020 World Malaria Report show that Nigeria had the highest number of global malaria cases at 27 per cent in 2019.
In the same year, it accounted for the highest number of deaths worldwide at 23 per cent.
In 2021, the Commissioner for Health in Ogun State Tomi Coker noted that “In Nigeria, malaria is responsible for approximately 60 per cent of out-patient visits and 30 per cent of hospital admission.”
He added that an estimated 110 million cases are clinically diagnosed annually.
Strategic plans on Malaria
The National Malaria Strategic Plan (2014 – 2020) was developed to transition from malaria control to malaria elimination in Nigeria. As such, the programme was changed from ‘National Malaria Control Programme’ to ‘National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP)’.
This plan replaced the previous one, which spanned 2009 to 2013.
Mosquito nets distribution
The then Minister of Health, Onyebuchi Chukwu, in his forward on the 2014 – 2020 strategic plan document, noted Nigeria distributed 58 million long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLIN) in the five years prior.
Furthermore, data from Statista put’s forward that in 2018, 61 per cent of households had Insecticide-treated nets (ITN). This was a 7 per cent drop from 2015, which recorded 69 per cent.
The ITN and LLIN are nets treated with insecticide that kills mosquitoes. The significant difference is in the duration it lasts and how the insecticide is applied.
