Mortein backs N4.13bn malaria plan

The National Malaria Strategic Plan 2014-2020 calls for N3.5 billion to be spent on drugs, treated mosquito nets and other supplies to boost the fight against malaria in hopes of eliminating the disease by a 2020 deadline.Some N496 million will pay for nets. A campaign has been on by the National Malaria Elimination Programme to […]

The National Malaria Strategic Plan 2014-2020 calls for N3.5 billion to be spent on drugs, treated mosquito nets and other supplies to boost the fight against malaria in hopes of eliminating the disease by a 2020 deadline.
Some N496 million will pay for nets. A campaign has been on by the National Malaria Elimination Programme to distribute more than 40 million nets, which have begun to wear out after three years.
And another N475.6 million is to pay for treating children with malaria, considered a major killer of children aged less than five.
NMEP estimates that much of the reduction in child mortality figures around the country come from pushing down the number of malaria-related deaths among children.
Six in 10 outpatient hospital visits and three in 10 hospital admissions are attributed to malaria, which has cost Nigeria N3.1 billion last year alone in federal interventions, according to health minister Khaliru Alhassa.
But latest figures indicate a 20% reduction in malaria cases nationwide.
“When we started this journey 15 years ago, the statistics we had were so disturbing,” Alhassan said at the plan’s launch in Abuja in comments delivered by health permanent secretary Linus Awute.
“Today we have made progress, but the world has shifted from malaria control to malaria elimination.”