FG PlANS FOR ANTI-MALARIA INTERVENTION PROGRAMME

The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi
Chukwu, has said that the National
Economic Council will, this week, consider
and give approval to a new intervention
plan to boost the anti-malaria programme
in the country.

Chukwu stated this at a press briefing in
Abuja during the ongoing special African
Union Summit on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis
and Malaria, where he stressed that Nigeria
was refocusing its approach to malaria.

He said, "We have realised that we need to
refocus. What we need to do is to focus
where the problem is. There is progress,
but we think that there is more to be done.
It is only when we know where the gap
exists that we can know where we can
have targeted interventions.

"As leaders, we have shown increased
commitment. Next week, I will make a
presentation to the NEC on a new
intervention plan on malaria for the
country. It could be better, but today,
nobody can accuse African leaders of not
being committed."

Meanwhile, the African Leaders Malaria
Alliance confessed that a lot still needed to
be done in the fight against malaria.
They said, among other challenges, how to
close the 50 per cent financial gap needed
for the anti-malaria war was a major
problem African countries were
contending with.

The Executive Director of the RollBack
Malaria Programme of the World Health
Organisation, Dr. Fatoumata Nafo-Traore, in
an interview with journalists, added that
another challenge against the war was the
development of resistance to insecticides
by mosquitoes.

According to her, mosquitoes that carry the
malaria
parasite are increasingly
developing resistance to the available
insecticides.

Nafo-Traore added that although
extraordinary progress had been made in
many African countries on malaria control,
many of the countries were poor and
needed financial support to roll back
malaria.

She said, "$5bn to $6bn is required per
year worldwide to fight malaria. The
problem is worse in developing countries,
especially in Nigeria. Only 50 per cent of
funds needed are made available through
national budgets, but mostly from donor
support. More funds are needed urgently."

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