The Senator representing Delta North Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Senator Ned Munir Nwoko, has disclosed why he is fighting malaria scourge in Nigeria.
Speaking on the heel of the public hearing of a Bill for an act to Establish the National Agency for Malaria Elimination (NAME) (SB.172) recently, Senator Nwoko divulged that in the World Health Organization’s 2024 report, Africa records approximately 600,000 malaria deaths annually with Nigeria accounting for over 184,000 of these deaths, the highest burden globally.
According to him, “beyond the statistics, this translates to families devastated, futures aborted, and national productivity diminished.
“Malaria is not merely a public health issue, it is a structural crisis that impairs maternal health, drains economic productivity, and impedes national development. It accounts for approximately 11 percent of maternal mortality in Nigeria, contributing to severe anemia, miscarriages, stillbirths, and infant deaths, tragic outcomes that disproportionately affect our most vulnerable citizens.
“Economically, malaria bleeds the nation through the loss of millions of man-hours each year. Entire sectors experience drops in efficiency, businesses absorb avoidable health-related costs, and our national output is compromised, simply because we have normalized what should never have been normalized.”
Going further, he averred: “This normalization is the root of the problem. If malaria were endemic to Europe or North America, we would not still be grappling with it a century later.
“COVID-19 showed us what is possible when the world mobilizes against a health crisis. In mere months, vaccines were developed, global funding was unleashed, and containment protocols deployed. By contrast, malaria, despite centuries of devastation, continues to receive tepid responses and fragmented interventions.
“As a private citizen, I have taken bold steps through my foundation to mobilize advocacy, promote research, and initiate high-level consultations, including hosting a strategic WHO meeting in Idumuje Ugboko to shape a Pan-African strategy. But these efforts, however well-meaning, cannot substitute for structured national action.”
Expantiating on the bill he explained that it “proposes a centralized, autonomous, and fully resourced National Agency for Malaria Eradication. Its mandate will be clear and aggressive: “Formulate and champion national policies for malaria eradication; coordinate inter-agency and sectoral responses with authority; mobilize and manage resources efficiently and transparently, and invest in and support vaccine research, including genetic innovations being explored globally.”
Rounding up, he submitted: “Nigeria cannot continue to lead the world in malaria deaths. Our vectors are evolving, our parasites adapting, so must our institutional response. A fragmented structure cannot confront a mutating threat. We need a unified, science-driven, and legislatively backed institution with the singular mandate to end malaria in Nigeria.
“I therefore urge the general public to lend their voices to this policy push, an essential step toward saving lives, strengthening our public health infrastructure, and securing a healthier future for our nation.”
Discussion about this post