From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Experts are worried that the over escalating antibiotic resistance crisis in Nigeria could pose a severe threat to public health. Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), high cost of antimalaria drugs have continued to affect the momentum in the fight against malaria in Nigeria and possibly beyond.
These concerns were raised by professionals as part of the awareness campaign against malaria to mark World Malaria Day with the theme “Malaria Ends With Us: Reinvest, Reimagine, Reignite” in Abuja.
They noted that AMR is a growing challenge being noticed in the health sector and, hence, should receive urgent attention from the global leaders.
Consultant Clinical Microbiologist and Head, Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), Rivers State, Dr. Mary Alex-Awelle, warned that the over escalating antibiotic resistance crisis in Nigeria could pose a severe threat to public health.
She cautioned that Nigeria risk running out of effective treatments for common infections due to increasing antibiotic resistance, and also highlighted the role individuals particularly pharmacy operators and patent medicine vendors could play in tackling the menace of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Nigeria.
Director of Research, National Veterinary Research Institute, Jos, Plateau State, Dr Sati Ngulukun, said the unchecked usage of antimicrobial medications in animals is increasingly having serious effects on humans and the environments who often consume or interact with the animals, respectively.
Vivian Bello of the Management Sciences for Health (MSH) described AMR as the growing silent “pandemic” that requires urgent attention from global leaders to avoid catastrophic public health emergencies that might arise thereof.
She made reference to available information indicating that many people are unaware or have less information about the ARM challenges, while the voices of those championing the cause are not loud enough to drive the message to various locations particularly the rural communities.
National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) predicted a “good case” for malaria in Nigeria, basing the predictions on several efforts of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, NMEP and other partners.
National Coordinator, NMEP, Dr. Nnenna Ogbulafor, recently confirmed that NMEP is working on different measures to ensure a significant drop in malaria prevalence and deaths in Nigeria, with specific reference to Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) and other interventions that have been effective over the years.
She said the target is to achieve a less than 10 per cent parasite prevalence and less than 50 deaths per 1,000 by the end of 2025. “Evidently, the SMC intervention has helped, significantly, to tackle the malaria cases, and that has resulted in reduced cases of malaria in the endemic states particularly during rainy season when the reported cases are high.
“There are also some noticeable improvements in other interventions such as testing rates, usage of recommended antimalarial, uptake of intermittent preventive treatment by pregnant women, and the use of long lasting insecticide treated nets.
“But despite these achievements, there is still a lot more to be done in tackling the scourge of malaria in Nigeria. This often necessitates periodic meetings with all stakeholders to assess the situation and, perhaps, redouble efforts to meet the global target of eliminating malaria in the country within the shortest possible time.”
An official of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) confirmed the on going malaria immunization in two pilot states, Kebbi and Bayelsa, adding that the exercise is still being monitored, and that is less or incomplete data/information regarding the immunization.
Also, the World Health Organization (WHO) insisted that malaria challenges in Nigeria and Africa are still a thing of concern for the global community, particularly African leaders.
It noted that malaria deaths stood at 597,000 out of 263 million new cases of malaria recorded in 2023, representing 11 million more cases in 2023 when compared to 2022, and nearly the same number of deaths.
It confirmed that approximately, 95 per cent of the deaths occurred in the WHO African Region, where many at risk still lack access to the services they need to prevent, detect, and treat the disease.
A new data from the WHO revealed that an estimated 2.2 billion cases of malaria and 12.7 million deaths have been averted since 2000, but the disease remains a serious global health threat, particularly in the WHO African Region.
WHO Director General, Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, said: “It’s time to recommit to ending malaria. We have the knowledge, life-saving tools, and targeted prevention, testing, and treatment methods to defeat this disease.
“We must reinvest in proven interventions, reimagine our strategies to overcome current obstacles, and reignite our collective efforts together with countries and communities to accelerate progress towards ending malaria.
“We know how to end malaria. The choice is ours: to act now or risk losing ground. Ending malaria is not just a health imperative; it is an investment in a more equitable, safer, and prosperous future for every nation.”