{"id":258220,"date":"2023-04-24T16:13:31","date_gmt":"2023-04-24T14:13:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/nigeria-has-africas-highest-malaria-death-rate-progress-is-being-made-but-its-not-enough\/"},"modified":"2023-04-24T16:13:31","modified_gmt":"2023-04-24T14:13:31","slug":"nigeria-has-africas-highest-malaria-death-rate-progress-is-being-made-but-its-not-enough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/nigeria-has-africas-highest-malaria-death-rate-progress-is-being-made-but-its-not-enough\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria has Africa’s highest malaria death rate – progress is being made, but it’s not enough"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Malaria<\/a> is a major public health problem and can be life-threatening. The disease, mostly found in tropical countries, is transmitted to humans by the female Anopheles mosquito. Nearly half of the world\u2019s population is at risk of the disease. In 2021<\/a>, for instance, around 247 million cases of malaria were reported and about 619,000<\/a> people died. Four African countries<\/a> accounted for just over half of all malaria deaths worldwide: Nigeria (31.3%), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (12.6%), Tanzania (4.1%) and Niger (3.9%).<\/em><\/p>\n

Professor Olugbenga A. Mokuolu <\/a>currently oversees all malaria work in Nigeria for Management Sciences for Health, a global health advisory organisation. He\u2019s also the former technical director to the National Malaria Elimination Programme in Nigeria. Molecular parasitology Professor, Segun Isaac Oyedeji, spoke to him about Nigeria\u2019s malaria burden.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Segun Oyedeji:<\/strong> Nigeria has a high malaria burden. How did it get here?<\/p>\n

Olugbenga Mokuolu:<\/strong> It\u2019s a combination of many things.<\/p>\n

The existence of malaria anywhere is an interaction between the environment and the organism responsible for the disease, the mosquito. When you look at an environment, you\u2019re looking at a variety of natural factors \u2013 such as temperature, humidity and rainfall \u2013 and man-made factors, such as drainage systems. This is because certain conditions allow mosquitoes to thrive \u2013 specifically moisture-rich environments. Mosquitoes breed by laying<\/a> their eggs in stagnant water. <\/p>\n

Nigeria\u2019s environment is a favourable one in which mosquitoes \u2013 the malaria vector \u2013 can thrive. <\/p>\n

In terms of environmental management, Nigeria leaves a lot to be desired. The country has open refuse sites, blocked drainage systems, and \u2013 because people lack piped water \u2013 they store water at home in containers. These all provide ideal sites<\/a> for mosquitoes to breed.<\/p>\n

In terms of humidity, Nigeria has vegetation<\/a> that favours the reproductive stages of the parasite in the mosquito. Altitude also plays a role<\/a>. And, in most of Nigeria, the altitude allows the mosquito to fly around without much difficulty. Only the Mambilla Plateau<\/a> is considered relatively malaria free in Nigeria. It has an altitude that is above 5000 feet which makes it difficult for mosquitoes to inhabit. <\/p>\n

In addition to this, Nigeria has a large population which makes malaria transmission much easier. Large populations mean more people tend to live closer together, which makes it easier for the mosquito vector to quickly find a contact for transmission of the malaria parasite. In addition, a large population puts more pressure on sanitation services, leading to more mosquito breeding sites. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s not to say no progress has been made. The country\u2019s interventions have not been a failure altogether. My organisation is supporting Nigeria to provide preventive chemotherapy for malaria. We have reached over 25 million children under five in our intervention cycles. This is shown to have significant contribution to reduction in mortality. But we are not yet where we are supposed to be.<\/p>\n

Segun Oyedeji:<\/strong> Children are disproportionately affected. What can be done?<\/p>\n

Olugbenga Mokuolu:<\/strong> The Nigerian government and its partners have singled out children as the focus of most interventions. In addition, we need health system strengthening to address the gaps in access particularly at communities. <\/p>\n

The Nigerian National Agency for Food and Drug Administration And Control recently approved<\/a> the R21 malaria vaccine for use. <\/p>\n

Hopefully when the R21 vaccine becomes available it will reduce new cases or the impact of cases. It is unclear when the vaccine may be rolled out in Nigeria. <\/p>\n

A recent study shows that the R21 vaccine has some efficacy<\/a>. This vaccines has shown most effective when administered to children from five months to 36 months old. It is 77% effective in preventing infection and reduces the occurrence of severe malaria. Reducing the frequency of severe malaria reduces the burden of malaria mortality by extension. <\/p>\n

The vaccines won\u2019t be used on their own. They will be used as adjuncts to existing tools for fighting malaria such as preventative treatment and the distribution of bed nets.<\/p>\n

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Read more: What Nigeria must do to eliminate malaria: three researchers offer insights<\/a> <\/strong> <\/em>\n<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

Segun Oyedeji:<\/strong> How can Nigeria reduce its malaria burden? <\/p>\n

Olugbenga Mokuolu:<\/strong> New cases of malaria can only be curbed by environmental measures, including the use of insecticide nets and personal protection. I know the vaccines aren\u2019t 100% effective, but surely they will offer additional prevention. <\/p>\n

But Nigeria needs to step up its game. The current National Malaria Strategic Plan 2021 to 2025<\/a> is based on a well researched model. It is no longer business as usual. The plan clearly shows that if we don\u2019t do more, malaria will keep rising. <\/p>\n

But we are actually doing a lot.<\/p>\n

Take the bed nets. These are being distributed on an almost regular basis to eligible states. Even COVID-19 didn\u2019t stop the distribution. Now because of the size of Nigeria\u2019s population, bed nets are distributed in what we call mass roll out campaigns with each state doing its own campaign. The improvement in malaria control that we have seen the last five to seven years is based on the intensity of interventions in two thirds of our states. <\/p>\n

But Nigeria has gone further to almost be a global example, in how to implement preventive chemotherapy<\/a>. We have 21 states out of 36 states where we reached over 25 million under five children in each cycle of intervention. We have four cycles in the year and this has contributed to reduction in mortality. <\/p>\n

But we could do more. <\/p>\n

Malaria isn\u2019t going to be reduced significantly unless Nigeria intensifies development. Development plays a major role<\/a> in reducing the burden. <\/p>\n

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Read more: Ending malaria in Africa needs to focus on poverty: quick fixes won’t cut it<\/a> <\/strong> <\/em>\n<\/p>\n

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Also, infusion of funds and not just from the government. There is also public-private partnership for drug manufacturers. The government should give them a protected market and negotiate good prices. Let the manufacturers take over distribution using their own market principles in a manner that will be affordable to many people.<\/p>\n

We need to look at new initiatives and also position ourselves in the vaccine game with respect to malaria. <\/p>\n

Segun Oyedeji:<\/strong> How can the international community \u2013 donors and aid agencies \u2013 best support Nigeria? <\/p>\n

Olugbenga Mokuolu:<\/strong> International partners are supporting the country in many ways. Largely the support is in funding and technical areas. Going forward, countries like Nigeria will need stronger support for consolidating current gains, new tools, health system strengthening, scaling up access to vaccine and local manufacturing or production of malaria intervention commodities.<\/p>\n

Source: The Conversation<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Malaria is a major public health problem and can be life-threatening. The disease, mostly found in tropical countries, is transmitted to humans by the female Anopheles mosquito. Nearly half of the world\u2019s population is at risk of the disease. In 2021, for instance, around 247 million cases of malaria were reported and about 619,000 people […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":258221,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4584],"tags":[3257],"class_list":{"0":"post-258220","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-africa-news-2","8":"tag-mypr","9":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nigeria-has-africas-highest-malaria-death-rate-progress-is-being-made-but-its-not-enough.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}