Malaria disrupts economic ecosystem, raises healthcare costs – Health Minister

The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Iziaq Salako, has warned that malaria continues to strain Nigeria’s economy and health system.

Mr Salako made this known during a press briefing to commemorate the 2025 World Malaria Day 2025 under the theme “Malaria Ends With Us: Reinvest, Reignite, Reimagine.”

He stressed that malaria remains “often underestimated and referred to as ordinary despite its devastating impact on individuals and communities.”

“In Nigeria, malaria continues to be a major public health issue, with children under five years of age and pregnant women being most at risk,” he said.

“This disease not only causes suffering and death, but it also disrupts the economic ecosystem by hindering productivity and increasing healthcare costs.”

World Malaria Day is marked every year on 25 April to raise awareness about the global effort to control and eradicate the disease.

Malaria burden

Mr Salako cited the World Malaria Report 2024, which attributes 27 per cent of global cases and 31 per cent of global deaths to Nigeria.

Under the administration’s Rethinking Malaria Initiative, Mr Salako outlined a plan tailored to sub-national needs and backed by the newly established Advisory on Malaria Elimination in Nigeria (AMEN).

He said this will harness top malaria experts across the globe to provide technical assistance and support for elimination efforts.

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Expanding prevention, treatment

To drive towards a malaria-free Nigeria by 2030, the minister announced nationwide rollouts of proven interventions.

He said, this year, 12 states, including Kano, Kaduna, and Oyo, will receive fresh insecticide-treated nets, while “we will be implementing Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) in the 21 SMC-eligible northern states and providing approximately 30 million under-five children with malaria preventive medicines.”

A first-ever pilot of Larval Source Management will launch in Abia, Borno, Ekiti, Lagos, Ondo, and Rivers states.

Meanwhile, a phased expansion of the malaria vaccine already introduced in Kebbi and Bayelsa in December 2024 will reach 17 more states in 2025, covering approximately 80,000 infants aged five to 23 months with their first dose.

Despite the freeze in USAID/PMI support, Mr Salako said Nigeria has stepped in to fill the gap and confirmed that the federal budget now covers essential commodities.

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These commodities include Artemisinin-based Combination Therapies (ACTs), Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) kits, Injectable artesunate for severe malaria, and Sulfadoxine/Pyrimethamine (SP) combination drugs for pregnant women.

“To ensure last-mile delivery, an integrated supply chain mechanism, coordinated by the National Product Supply Chain Management Programme, will be utilised,” he said.

“This will help to ensure efficient delivery of these life-saving commodities to where they are most needed,” he said.

Strengthening systems, partnerships

In her remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Daju Kachollom, urged Nigerians not to trivialise malaria and encouraged early care at subsidised primary-health-care centres.

Ms Kachollom highlighted environmental factors like climate change, insecurity and humanitarian crises that hamper elimination efforts, and called for stronger inter-ministerial coordination.

“The federal government has greatly subsidised the treatment of malaria, especially in the primary health care sector. So if you have malaria, please go to the primary health care sector,” she said.

Mr Salako further highlighted the role of the private sector.

He noted that the Nigeria End Malaria Council, chaired by Aliko Dangote, is mobilising corporate funding to support the implementation of the National Malaria Elimination Programme.

“By working together, we can improve access to equitable, affordable, and quality-assured healthcare products and services for malaria and make a significant impact in eliminating this disease from our country,” he said.

Spotlight on innovation, advocacy

Development partners like the Gates Foundation have been essential partners to the federal government in the drive to eradicate malaria.

The Gates Foundation has supported the research for malaria vaccines and has provided much-needed funding for the malaria eradication campaign in nigeria.

It also partnered with Onyebe Ella, a Visual Artist and Social Inclusion Activist, to produce the virtual paintings depicting the realities of malaria in the country.

Ms Ella’s virtual paintings, she explained, draw on personal loss of her elder brother who died of malaria, to “depict the realities of malaria in the country”.