Nigeria Targets 50% Reduction In Malaria-Related Mortality By 2025 – Minister

The Federal Ministry of Health on Thursday disclosed its plans to reduce malaria-related mortality by 50 per cent in 2025.

The information was disclosed during a virtual event titled: ‘Combating Malaria in Africa: Lessons & Opportunities’, organised by the GBCHealth — a global coalition of private sector companies leading the fight for an improved health system.

In a series of tweets, the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire expressed joy over the 2020 World Malaria Day, saying, “malaria cases per 1000 population at risk has shown a decline from 362.8 in 2000 to 225.2 in 2019”.

The minister who was represented by Dr Alex Okoh said the ministry would continue to ensure that the country sustained interventions against malaria across the country, citing the progress in the face of the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking further, Okoh said, “We are committed to a reduction of the malaria burden in the next 5 years to a parasite prevalence of less than 10% & reduce mortality attributable to malaria to less than 50% deaths per 1000 live births by 2025″.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) had earlier congratulated the growing number of countries that were approaching and achieving zero cases of malaria.

WHO had launched a new campaign on “Zeroing in on malaria elimination” on Wednesday where it said it intends to stamp out malaria in 25 more countries by 2025.