...endorses Malaria Programme Review Declaration

The Federal Ministry of Health in collaboration with the development and private partners commemorated the World Malaria Day 2013 with a run down of events to create awareness on malaria control efforts in the country.

The theme for the year "Invest in the future; Defeat Malaria" is a call to action for all stakeholders, hence the choice of the slogan "Time is Now."

The Hon. Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu in his speech reiterated the importance of involvement of all stakeholders in the fight against malaria.

He also stated that the Government of Nigeria is scaling up interventions such as Indoor Residual Spraying. The Minister lamented the state of malaria burden in Nigeria, while emphasizing the urgent need to apply longer term measures that would interrupt malaria transmission in the country.

The Nigeria Malaria Ambassador, Alhaji Aliko Dangote convened a high profile breakfast roundtable aimed to advocate for improved funding to close the existing gap in the malaria control programme.

The ambassador emphasized the criticality of leveraging the private sector support in the current situation.

WHO Country Representative for Nigeria, Dr. Rui Gama Vaz who also participated in the signing of the Malaria Programme Review (MPR) Declaration, highlighted the burden of malaria in Nigeria. The MPR defines the strategic focus of Malaria control programme in the next generation of Country Malaria strategic plan.

He explained that every single minute a child dies in the African continent due to malaria and this problem affects not only the ministry and sector adding that this requires urgent attention.

Dr. Vaz reiterated that Malaria control is a multi pronged effort, which requires a combination of proven strategies in an integrated manner.

He, however, challenged the country to improve and strengthen mechanisms that encourage generation of evidence through local research, to improve program monitoring and future direction.

Nigeria Marks World Malaria Day 2013

 01 Aliko Dangote, GCON Chats With WHO Nigeria Country Rep. Dr. Rui Gama Vaz 02 A Cross Section Of Participants At The Round Table Talk On World Malaria Day 03 Hon. Minister Of Health, Prof. Chukwu Signs The Malaria Control Programme Declaration
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