Senate Bill to Establish National Agency for Malaria Eradication Scales Second Reading

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

The Senate yesterday passed for second reading, a bill seeking to establish a national agency for malaria eradication.

The bill specifically proposes a centralised, autonomous, and fully resourced agency that would champion national policies for malaria eradication.

It is intended to coordinate inter-agency and sectoral responses with authority, mobilise and manage resources efficiently and transparently.

Through the agency, the federal government would invest in and support vaccine research, including genetic innovations being explored globally.

Leading the debate on the general principles of the bill on Thursday at plenary, its sponsor, Senator Ned Nwoko, explained the bill was introduced because of the need to address the rising scourge of Malaria in the country.

Nwoko said the World Health Organisation’s 2024 report, explained that Africa records approximately 600,000 malaria deaths annually.

He said Nigeria accounted for over 184,000 of these deaths, being the highest burden globally.

He said: “Beyond the statistics, this translates to families devastated, futures aborted, and national productivity diminished.”

The Delta Central Senator explained that Malaria is not merely a public health issue, but also a structural crisis that impairs maternal health, drains economic productivity, and impedes national development.

He said: “Malaria accounts for approximately 11% of maternal mortality in Nigeria, contributing to severe anaemia, 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.

“The current health architecture is insufficient. The National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) is policy-based but underpowered.

“The National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) delivers care but lacks scale and support.

“The NCDC was stellar during COVID-19 but is peripheral in malaria matters. Even the Presidential End Malaria Council, 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-drive and legislatively backed institution with the singular mandate to end malaria Nigeria.”

Contributing to the debate, Senators Victor Umeh, Ede Dafinone, Onyewuchi Ezenwa and Babangida Hussaini lamented the high percentage of losses caused by malaria to Nigerians in loss of lives, finances, man hours and productivity.

They stressed that urgent action must be taken by the government to establish the agency to exclusively manage issues related to malaria.

After a robust debate of the bill, it was referred to the Committee on Health mandated to submit its report in four weeks.