Nigeria receives a US$200M loan from the World Bank for malaria control interventions

NIGERIA – The Federal Government of Nigeria has secured a US$200M loan from the World Bank to fund the malaria control and prevention interventions programme operations in 13 states of the Federation.

Nigeria is carrying out malaria interventions through the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) which is mandated to formulate as well as facilitate policy and guidelines on malaria along with coordinating activities of partners on malaria control activities.

The programme also provides technical support to state malaria programs, Local Government Areas and stakeholders while mobilizing resources, monitoring and evaluating progress in malaria elimination efforts across Nigeria.

Additionally, NMEP is working with the Nigeria Space Research Agency to implement an environmental management initiative aimed at identifying water bodies with malaria hot spots in the country.

The initiative will provide timely and accurate maps of surface water which is valuable for mapping malaria risk and targeting disease control interventions.

The National Malaria Elimination Programme is also collaborating with relevant Nigerian ministries such as the Ministry of Environment, Agriculture and Education to advance malaria research since tackling the malaria burden requires a multi-sectoral collaboration

NMEP National Coordinator Dr. Perpetua Unomoibni revealed that the health funding by World Bank will support anti-malaria efforts in the 13 states previously not covered by a similar intervention programme being implemented in other 23 states.

The loan will be used to not only finance malaria interventions but also to fund the Immunization Plus health campaign which is under the National Primary HealthCare Development Agency.

Dr. Perpetua Unomoibni further disclosed that Nigeria received an additional US$100 million from the Islamic Bank states to support efforts towards eradicating malaria in the country.

“Out of the US$100M funding, US$10 million is grant while $90 million is loan to fund malaria control activities in the states that were not earlier covered by funding from the Global Fund,” she explained.

Moreover, the United States government has deployed frontline health works including nurses, midwives and community health workers across Nigeria who went the extra mile to ensure essential malaria services were sustained

The US has also strengthened the capacities of medical laboratory scientists in malaria microscopy, rapid testing, quality assurance and laboratory supervision through the US Army Medical Research Directorate-Africa/Nigeria (USAMRD-A/N).

In addition, Nigeria has launched the National Malaria Slide Bank project which is expected to pioneer the country’s first bank of validated domestically developed slides for malaria microscopy training, external quality assurance and future research purposes.

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