FIGHTING MALARIA

Catching them young, an excited Ramatu collects
LLNI for herself. Photo Credit: USAID/TSHIP

Listening to a recent radio jingle, encouraging Nigerians to do a proper blood test before taking malaria medication, reminded me how deadly malaria could be.  The jingle was an important reminder about how many Nigerians simply go to a neighborhood pharmacy to purchase malaria drugs without proper diagnosis.  Malaria is so common here that sometimes people forget just how dangerous it is, especially for children under the age of five.  The World Health Organization (WHO) says, in Africa, a child dies every minute from malaria.

It’s no wonder then that the WHO had selected April 25 of every year to focus on the problem of malaria and the global effort to provide effective control of the disease. The day is an opportunity: for countries in the affected regions to learn from each other's experiences and support each other's efforts; for new donors to join a global partnership against malaria; for research and academic institutions to flag their scientific advances to both experts and general public; and for international partners, companies and foundations to showcase their efforts and reflect on how to scale up what has worked.

A nurse conducting malaria rapid diagnostic test on a baby
Photo Credit: Abd’Lateef Ottan

The good news about malaria, however, is that the mosquito-borne disease is preventable and curable.  The United States Government (USG) has been heavily involved in the fight against malaria starting with the launch of the Presidents Malaria Initiative (PMI) by President George W. Bush in 2005.  The program has 19 focus countries in Africa today, including Nigeria.  The malaria control interventions in these focus countries include promotion of the use of Insecticide treated Nets (ITN), indoor residual spraying, use of intermittent preventive treatment during pregnancy, and treatment of children under 5.

This investment by the USG has been largely rewarding as seen in the results.  Since 2006, all the original 15 PMI focus countries have seen reductions in childhood mortality rates, ranging from 16 to 50 percent since the start of the initiative.  Household ownership and use of Insecticide Treated Nets has increased significantly, while the proportion of pregnant women who received medication for the prevention of malaria has also risen.

Photo Credit: USAID/TSHIP

A practical example of the success of the U.S. Government malaria intervention program is found in Oyo state, where 132 primary and secondary healthcare facilities have been supported with free commodities for malaria diagnosis and treatment, including malaria Rapid Diagnostic Test (mRDT) kits and Artemisinin combination therapy (ACT).   According to Ayodele Ayokomi, a community health officer at a primary care clinic in Ibadan, the “free RDT and ACTs have increased client’s patronage by over 100%, especially among pregnant women and nursing mothers.”

The effort to combat malaria is succeeding because of the collective efforts of governments, international donor organizations, NGO’s, scientific institutions and communities. As this continues no doubt the fight against this disease will eventually be won.