SENATE Committee on Health blamed what its called " economics of malaria control"- a euphemism for international politics for economic reason- as one reason why malaria is still persistent in Nigeria, in spite of billions of naira being spent by the Federal Government to arrest the situation.
The committee, which made the observation in Lagos yesterday during its oversight visit to the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), said it was not convinced that the long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLINs) programme being bankrolled by the Federal Government was the solution to the incessant case of malaria infection in the country.
Chairman of the committee, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, wondered why Nigeria would still continue to cling to the strategy, which he said was not working, when country like Senegal that has manufacturing plants for LLINs was using other effective means to tackle malaria.
Okowa said he was going to speak up on the matter when he return to Abuja as his past attempts to speak on it had met deaf ears.
While the Minister of State for Health, Dr.Muhammad Ali Pate, said in January that the ministry proposed N1.8 billion for the procurement of LLINs for additional three states, a World Health Organisation (WHO)'s report shows that Nigeria would need one billion dollars (N158 billion) to stave off backsliding and resurgences of malaria in 2013 and 2014.
Malaria still remains one of the most dangerous diseases in Nigeria, contributing to high level of Under-5 and maternal deaths. Distribution of LLINs has been government's retrogressive intervention mechanism to reduce burden.
NIMR Director-General,Prof. Innocent Ujah, said research had shown that some Nigerians, especially from the Eastern part of the country, do not use LLINs for cultural reasons, thereby rendering the strategy ineffective.
Ujah, who was specifically asked by the committee to access the strategy, said LLINs are not the best for the country as other countries that have eradicated malaria had used indoor residual spray.
Ujah, who regretted that research was not being given prominent place in national development, called on government to establish National Health Research Fund to fund research appropriately.
NIMR Head of Public Health and Malaria Programme, Dr. Samson Awolola, said "we have shown that best method of tackling malaria is indoor residual spray", adding that LLINs were supposed to be palliative mechanism to tackle malaria menace.
The Guardian
Malaria is a very deadly kind of aliment that is troubling so many people all around the world. It is just too common