Malaria Elimination: FG Establishes Advisory, Ministerial Task Force
Princess-Ekwi Ajide
In the bid to accelerate progress towards malaria elimination, the Federal government has established an Advisory on Malaria Elimination in Nigeria (AMEN) and the Ministerial Task Force on Malaria Elimination in Nigeria.
Inaugurating the advisory board and Ministerial Taskforce, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, explained that malaria poses a significant burden on Nigeria in terms of mortality, morbidity, lost work hours, out-of-pocket expenses, and government investments in treatments and interventions.
He emphasized that malaria continues to be a major challenge for the country despite being preventable and treatable, hence the need for a paradigm shift from the standard approach to a more proactive and result-oriented method of defeating this disease.
Prof. Pate explained that the Ministerial Task Force, will consist of stakeholders from various sectors who have extensive knowledge of malaria implementation in Nigeria and are based in Nigeria and ensure that the advice and recommendations from the AMEN are carefully considered, analysed, and implemented.
According to the Special Assistant to the Minister on Media and External Relations, Tashikalmah Hallah, the Advisory on Malaria Elimination in Nigeria (AMEN) is chaired by Emeritus Prof. Rose Leke University of Yaoundé, Cameroun.
Other members are Prof. Dyann Wirth, of the Harvard School of Public Health, Dr. Soji Adeyi President, of Resilience Health System, Prof. Ibrahim Abubakar, University College, London, and Prof. Peter Piot, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
The Malaria Taskforce will collaborate with the Federal Ministry of Health, development partners, donor agencies, and the AMEN as needed while the Ministerial Taskforce is co-chaired by the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare and the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, and the Chairman of the Malaria Technical Working Group in Nigeria, will serve as the Vice Chairman.
Other members of the Ministerial Taskforce, include the Permanent Secretary, Director, Public Health, representatives of WHO, Secretary, Country Coordinating Mechanism, GF, Representatives of the Civil Society Organizations Secretary, Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Group of Manufacturers Association of Nigeri among others.
The task force will contribute to the overall goal of the National Malaria Elimination Programme, NMEP, and work to reduce the incidence of malaria and as well improve the impact of malaria interventions through coordinated efforts in prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and awareness creation.
