From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja
The Nigerian Senate has passed the Bill to establish the National Agency for Malaria Eradication for second reading, aiming to create a centralised, autonomous, and well-funded agency to lead national policies for malaria eradication. The agency will coordinate inter-agency responses, mobilise resources transparently, and invest in vaccine research, including global genetic innovations.
Sponsored by Senator Ned Nwoko (Delta Central), the bill was debated during plenary on Thursday, May 15, 2025. Nwoko highlighted Nigeria’s severe malaria burden, citing the World Health Organisation’s 2024 report, which states Africa records 600,000 malaria deaths annually, with Nigeria accounting for over 184,000—the highest globally. “Beyond the statistics, this translates to families devastated, futures aborted, and national productivity diminished,” he said.
He described malaria as a structural crisis, contributing to 11% of maternal mortality in Nigeria through severe anaemia, miscarriages, stillbirths, and infant deaths, while economically draining millions of man-hours annually. Nwoko criticised the current fragmented health architecture, noting that the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) lacks power, the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) is under-scaled, and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) plays a peripheral role in malaria.
“Our vectors are evolving, our parasites adapting; so must our institutional response. A fragmented structure cannot confront a mutating threat,” Nwoko argued, advocating for a unified, science-driven agency to end malaria in Nigeria.
Senators Victor Umeh, Ede Dafinone, Onyewuchi Ezenwa, and Babangida Hussaini supported the bill, lamenting malaria’s toll on lives, finances, and productivity. They urged urgent action to establish the agency to focus exclusively on malaria management.
The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Health, with a report expected in four weeks. This legislative push aligns with ongoing efforts to address Nigeria’s malaria crisis, as seen in recent Global Fund allocations of $1 billion for 2024–2026 to combat malaria, HIV, and tuberculosis.