If there are doubts about malaria being the number one public enemy in Nigeria, the recent disclosure that its citizens shell out a whopping sum of N1.156 trillion annually to combat the scourge has finally put the misgivings to rest. The frightening figure was released last Friday, April 25, 2025, a day set aside by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to commemorate the World Malaria Day. The amount is more than half of N2.48 trillion the federal government earmarked for the healthcare sector in its 2025 budget.
The amount represents 5.2 per cent of the total budget of N54.99 trillion. The percentage also falls far below the benchmark of 15 per cent set by the WHO. Nigeria’s healthcare watchers should be alarmed by the quantum of cash Nigerian families spend on their overall health needs if malaria alone punches so deep a hole into their pockets.
Equally worrisome is the global ranking of Nigeria as a major contributor to malaria cases. According to the 2022 WHO report, about 68 million Nigerians are sickened by the disease annually, while 194,000 succumbed to the deadly plague.
Speaking during this year’s commemoration of the World Malaria Day, the President of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), Dr. Osundara Tope Zenith, stressed the need for stronger political will and increased government funding to eliminate malaria. He described the disease as a significant public health challenge with devastating effects, especially on children under five and pregnant women.
He underlined the heavy burden of malaria across nearly all parts of the country, noting that the disease continued to impact health outcomes negatively and remains a significant concern for government at all levels. The NARD leader also highlighted multiple factors influencing malaria transmission which included, among others, rainfall, climate conditions, and even hidden reservoirs of the malaria parasite in animals and humans. According to him, some parasite strains could remain dormant in the liver for months, leading to relapses even after successful treatment. He also raised concerns about growing resistance to malarial drugs and insecticide-treated nets that have long been central to prevention strategies.
He stressed that beyond medical intervention, poor sanitation and environmental conditions in many communities, such as stagnant water and overgrown vegetation, continue to provide breeding grounds for mosquitoes, further hindering eradication efforts. While acknowledging that the goal of eliminating malaria was not entirely unrealistic, he cautioned that it was a challenging target that could only be achieved through sustained political commitment and a multifaceted approach.
A consultant pathologist at the Lagos State University College of Medicine and Teaching Hospital, Professor Francis Faduyile, also called for a comprehensive and preventive approach to tackling deaths caused by the disease, particularly among children. Professor Faduyile, a former president of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), emphasised the urgent need for increased public health education, improved healthcare access, and effective universal health coverage implementation to curb malaria-related mortality.
In the same vein, a Senior Lecturer and Head of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Dr. Mary Alex-Wele, underscored the need for a holistic approach to prevention beyond mosquito nets. She acknowledged the importance of mosquito nets, but stressed that environmental cleanliness played a vital role in reducing malaria transmission. Alex-Wele also recommended using insect repellents and sprays as part of an integrated malaria prevention strategy and prophylaxis for high-risk groups, stressing that it is far better and cheaper to prevent than to cure.
Another factor inhibiting the fight against the malaria scourge is the prohibitive costs of treatment. It costs a minimum of N17,000 to tackle a single case of mild malaria treatment in public health institutions which may include consultation fees and laboratory tests. The weightless but deadly insects have evolved over the years that it now requires a combination of injections and tablets to flush the parasites from the system. Consequently, many poor families now resort to local treatment and only rush to the healthcare centres when the situation spirals out of control.
The cheering news is that the recently discovered malaria vaccine is being rolled out in some selected states. It is a game changer in the eternal fight against the preventable disease that has continued to plague mankind relentlessly. In 2024, Nigeria received about one million doses of the vaccine and targeted children in high-burden areas. The vaccines were deployed in Kebbi and Bayelsa states widely considered as having some of the highest malaria burdens in Nigeria. So far, over 100,000 children in Kebbi and Bayelsa, identified as high-risk areas, have been vaccinated. It is also gratifying to note that the initiative has been integrated into existing immunisation schedules and outreach programmes to enhance reach and effectiveness.
Equally worthy of note is the federal government’s declaration of malaria not just as a health concern but also an economic and developmental emergency; and followed up with the inauguration an Advisory on Malaria Elimination in Nigeria (AMEN) in 2024. The initiative was seen as a bold move to confront the scourge that has long undermined Nigeria’s health and economic progress. About $1.1 in GDP is lost to the disease annually.
We urge the government at all levels and stakeholders in the healthcare sector to redouble their efforts in the war against the preventable disease. Generating awareness and confronting the public number one killer should be more of a daily routine than the yearly commemoration of malaria day.