A Parasitologist, Prof. Dennis Aribodor, has identified the lack of funds and dependence on foreign donors as major challenges affecting the fight against Malaria in Nigeria.
Aribodor, a lecturer at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra told the media on Wednesday that the burden of malaria had continued to undermine the health and welfare of families.
He identified the lack of political will, terrorism, global warming and climate change, and drug and insecticidal resistance as other factors militating against malaria elimination.
He said that “malaria has continued to cripple our nation’s economic development. There is a need to provide funding to execute malaria programs.
“There is also the need to check the situation where foreign donors and donors within the country dictate programs in the battle against malaria. Even our data are sometimes generated by foreign organizations because they fund it. These are obstacles in the fight against malaria.”
He, therefore, called for concerted efforts to achieve a malaria-free nation like Algeria.
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He said that Algeria became the second country in the World Health Organisation African Region to be officially certified malaria-free in 2019 after Mauritius, which was certified in 1973.
According to him, Algeria achieved the feat by fully funding its budget for malaria elimination through domestic financing.
He urged the government at all levels and the organized private sector to allocate resources to intensify the fight against malaria.
He added that “for malaria to be eliminated in Nigeria, our political leaders should have the political will and allocate adequate resources, both human and material to achieve the goal.
“As researchers and advocates, we will continue to educate and empower residents on the causes, effects, and solutions to malaria scourge.”
Malaria is caused by a single-celled parasite of the genus Plasmodium. The parasite is commonly transmitted to humans through a mosquito bite.
