The Federal Government says it is intensifying efforts to eliminate malaria in Nigeria while strengthening domestic financing for healthcare to reduce the country’s dependence on external donors. The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, stated this while receiving the Board of Trustees of the Malaria Consortium on a courtesy visit to the ministry in Abuja.

The delegation visited the ministry to congratulate Nigeria on the reported decline in malaria parasite prevalence among children aged between six and 59 months. According to the figures presented, malaria parasite prevalence among children in the age group fell from 42 per cent in 2010 to 15 per cent in 2025.

Pate described the long-standing partnership between the Federal Ministry of Health’s National Malaria Elimination Programme and the Malaria Consortium as productive, saying the reduction demonstrated the impact of coordinated interventions. He said the government would intensify efforts to reduce the disease burden through improved diagnosis, access to quality and affordable malaria medicines and data-driven strategies at the subnational level.

Other interventions include seasonal malaria chemoprevention, insecticide-treated bed nets and the use of malaria vaccines where available. The government is also seeking to strengthen domestic financing for healthcare as part of a broader effort to reduce dependence on international donors. The minister’s comments come as Nigeria continues to face the significant public-health burden associated with malaria, particularly among children.

The Federal Government says sustained investment, improved surveillance and evidence-based interventions will be necessary to move from reducing malaria prevalence towards eventual elimination.

The history of malaria in Nigeria suggests that there is no single solution.

DDT did not eliminate malaria, improved medicines alone cannot eliminate it, bed nets alone cannot eliminate it, and vaccines alone cannot eliminate it. And increased government funding, while essential, will not automatically eliminate the disease unless money is translated into effective programmes.

The disease requires a combination of prevention, diagnosis, treatment, surveillance, environmental management and sustained financing. That is why the government’s current emphasis on a combination of interventions is important.

From 90 Per Cent Infection to a 15 Per Cent Prevalence Target

The historical contrast is striking. In the late 1940s, scientific reports cited infection rates approaching 90 per cent among children in some southern districts. Today, the government reports a national decline among children aged six to 59 months from 42 per cent in 2010 to 15 per cent in 2025.

The figures are not directly comparable, the historical statistic concerns particular districts and the modern figure is presented as a broader prevalence measure, but together they illustrate the extraordinary distance Nigeria’s malaria-control efforts have travelled.

The country has moved from documenting extremely high levels of childhood infection to discussing the possibility of elimination. That is a major public-health transformation.

The malaria story also contains a warning. The fact that the disease remains a major concern nearly 80 years after the 1940s shows how difficult sustained elimination can be. Nigeria has experienced changes in governments, healthcare systems, technologies and treatment strategies.

Yet malaria has survived them all. The lesson is that progress must be protected. If financing weakens, surveillance deteriorates, prevention programmes are interrupted or healthcare access declines, malaria can regain ground.

The current decline therefore needs to be treated as a foundation for elimination rather than a reason for complacency.

The government is reporting falling malaria prevalence, expanding prevention and treatment strategies and now placing greater emphasis on financing healthcare from domestic resources. The ambition has changed too.

The goal is no longer simply to reduce the suffering caused by malaria. It is elimination.