Daily Independent (Lagos)
Yinka Shokunbi, Rafiu Ajakaye (Lagos), Kemi Yesufu
25 April 2009
Abuja — At least 300,000 Nigerian kids die of malaria annually, the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Robin Renee Sanders, stated on Friday as she sought renewed synergy between Abuja and Washington to tackle the disease.
That emerged as the United Nations Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) argued also on Friday that malaria is about the highest killer of children below age five in Nigeria.
Sanders made the disclosure in a statement commemorating the World Malaria Day, which is marked every April 25, and said the Barrack Obama administration has equally committed so much resources, financial and technical, to knock down the dreaded disease.
The theme for this year's celebration is 'Counting Malaria Out.'
"Today, we commemorate World Malaria Day with you, to celebrate your achievements, and rededicate the historic partnership between Nigeria and the United States to defeat this preventable and treatable killer," Sanders said in an editorial for publication today.
"For about half the world's population, malaria remains one of the greatest threats to public health. It is a disease that causes poverty, disrupts the livelihood of families, and far too often, steals the future of Africa's children. In tropical Africa, the disease kills nearly 3,000 people each day with young children and pregnant women at greatest risk. Nigeria, with Africa's largest population, has the world's greatest burden of malaria illness and an estimated 300,000 children die here each year from this disease.
"The Obama administration has earmarked $1.2 billion to fight the disease for a period of five years under the President's Malaria Initiative, Sanders said, and gave Nigeria a pat on the back for improved action against malaria."
The statement added: "The strategy in Nigeria, as elsewhere in Africa, is straightforward. First, prevention: the distribution of insecticide-treated bed nets or the provision of indoor spraying to provide protection from malaria-carrying mosquitoes, and preventive malaria treatment to expectant mothers during pregnancy. Second, treatment: new and highly effective medicines are distributed and health workers are trained on the proper use of those medicines.
"In Nigeria all of the above measures have been introduced but need to be greatly expanded to achieve national impact. The Nigerian government, working with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Global Fund (GF) to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the World Bank, the UK Department for International Development (DFID), World Health Organisation (WHO), UNICEF and others, is poised for a dramatic expansion of its control programme over the next two years, including a target of reaching 80 per cent of all households in Nigeria with long lasting insecticidal bed nets by the end of 2010. The U.S. Government through USAID has doubled its contribution to $16 million this year in order to play a larger role in this historic effort!
"Sustainability of malaria control programmes is a critical goal of U.S. Government efforts. In Nigeria, the U.S. Government through USAID is helping to build capacity by training people to manage, deliver, and support the delivery of health services, which will be critical for sustained successes against malaria and other infectious diseases. We also partner with community groups and faith-based organisations. They bring tremendous value to malaria control efforts given their credibility within their communities, their ability to reach the grassroots level, and their capacity to mobilise significant numbers of volunteers."
UNICEF said in a statement issued to mark the World Malaria Day that the disease is responsible for 30 per cent childhood mortality and 11 per cent of maternal mortality in the Nigeria.
UNICEF Executive Director, Anne Venemen, while commending African leaders for the improved response to the disease through the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Partnerships called for a doubling of efforts by African countries so as to rid the continent of the disease.
Venemen noted that data presented in the 'Malaria and Children, Progress in the Intervention Coverage'report -a joint effort with the RBM Partnership and the GF, showed major signs of progress across Africa in the fight against malaria, particularly in the increase in distribution of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs).
Meanwhile, Board Chairman of the GF, Rajat K. Gupta, on Friday in Washington, U.S. announced the approval of $334 million over the next two years to support malaria control in Nigeria.
Also, World Bank (WB) President, Robert B. Zoellick, announced that the bank is extending an additional $300 million in International Development Association resources to the country to help expand efforts to control malaria.
The funding for Nigeria, according to the GF boss is towards the purchase of 30 million long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito nets for distribution in the next 20 months.
The GF and WB grants, according to the agencies, represent one of the largest ever made for malaria control in the history of the institutions and is expected to help the country reach universal coverage of malaria control interventions by December 31, 2010.
The GF grant approval was announced by Gupta just as Health Minister, Professor Babatunde Osotimehin, unveiled the new National Strategic Plan for Malaria Control in the country from 2009-2013.
The occasion was the World Religious Leaders Summit on Malaria, which took place in Washington ahead of the World Malaria Day today.
The event witnessed the birth of a new faith-based association, Nigerian Interfaith Action Association (NIFAA) launched to ensure distribution of 60 million insecticide treated bed nets in the country.
President of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Archbishop John Onaiyekan, and Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa'ad Adubakar, thereafter led other world religious leaders to draft a global roadmap towards combating the malaria epidemic and achieve a zero level by 2015.
Gupta highlighted the potential roles of religious leaders in Africa, who could help to ensure effective utilisation and distribution of life-saving interventions.
The WB aid, according to its president, is to help expand Nigeria's efforts to control malaria, saying that the initial $100 million is already on a fast track for approval by the bank's board of executive directors in June this year.
According to Zoellick, the new financing is a response to a request from the government of Nigeria towards accelerating its progress in meeting the 2010 deadline to get malaria under control.
With this new development combined with the country's initial 'Malaria Plus'package of $180 million (approved in 2006), World Bank support to Nigeria is expected to approach $500 million, which would also make it the largest malaria control investment in the bank's history, the president said.
Addressing the gathering, Osotimehin said the new strategic plan would primarily ensure that 30 million households receive the targeted 60 million insecticide treated bed nets before the end of 2010 as agreed by President Umaru Yar'Adua and the United Nations Secretary General's Special Envoy for Malaria, Ray Chambers, when the latter visited in December last year.
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