The Kogi Project Manager of the Malaria Coalition, Kenneth Maduka, announced that the incidence of malaria in Nigeria has decreased from 23% in 2018 to 22% in 2021.
Maduka said this at a seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) briefing organized by the Malaria Consortium in collaboration with the Kogi Ministry of Health in Lokoja, according to a report by the News Agency of Nigeria.
“The incidence of malaria decreased by 16% in Kogi Islands in 2023 compared to 2021 and 27% globally.
“In Kogi alone, over 6.3 million doses of medicine have been given to 1.2 million children under the Kogi SMC 2023 project.” he said
Incidence of malaria in Nigeria
Malaria prevalence rate is the number of people suffering from malaria in Nigeria. In Nigeria, malaria is a major threat to public health, and is considered so 68 million illnesses and 194,000 deaths More deaths from this disease are expected by 2021.
Nigeria has the highest burden of malaria worldwide, accounting for about 27% of malaria cases worldwide.
malaria prevention activities
Maduka noted that the SMC implementation target for 2024 is 1,184,652 children, a figure that was already exceeded in the June and July cycle.
“Our goal is to further increase these numbers during the August and September cycle,” he said, highlighting the high malaria mortality rate in children aged 3 to 59 months during the rainy season.
SMEP regional program manager, Dr. Stephen Eike, said that 14,255 people from 747 health facilities in 239 wards in the province had participated in the SMC project.
Eike also noted that the state is expanding malaria prevention efforts to adults through the IMPACT project.
The IMPACT project (Immunization Plus and Malaria Progress by Accelerating Coverage and Promoting Services) is a major health initiative of the Nigerian government funded by the World Bank. It aims to strengthen primary health care and reduce under-five mortality across Nigeria.
About SMC
Seasonal malaria chemoprophylaxis (SMC) is a combination of two antimalarial drugs, sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine and amodiaquine (SPAQ), given to children at risk of severe malaria during the rainy season to prevent malaria. SMC, launched and recommended by WHO in 2012, mainly targets children aged 3 to 59 months, who are more vulnerable to severe malaria.
This method involves giving a full course of antimalarial treatment at monthly intervals during the peak malaria season. This treatment is usually given once a month for 3 to 4 months during the high risk season. Studies have shown that SMCs can be very effective, reducing the incidence of malaria in children who receive them by up to 75%. Implementation usually involves door-to-door delivery by community health workers.
The Malaria Coalition aims to provide SMC to 25 million children by 2024 in seven countries: Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mozambique, South Sudan, Togo and Uganda.
The SMC project started in Kogi in 2021 and is supported by the National Malaria Eradication Program (SMEP), the Malaria Consortium, the World Health Organization (WHO) and other partners.
2024-08-10 16:40:03
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