As countries mark the World Malaria Day, the global community is accelerating efforts to eliminate the disease, which caused roughly 282 million cases and 610,000 deaths in 2024.

According to the World Health Organisation, there has been significant progress towards eliminating the scourge of malaria with about 2.3 billion cases and 14 million deaths averted since year 2000 while 47 countries have been certified malaria-free including two in 2024 and three in 2025.

The global health body further noted that between 2000 and 2024, the number of malaria-endemic countries fell sharply, dropping from 108 to 80 and over the same period, countries with fewer than 10,000 cases rose from 27 in 2000 to 46 in 2024.

In addition, 37 countries reported fewer than 1000 cases in 2024. Already, 25 countries, including Nigeria, are rolling out malaria vaccines to protect 10 million children a year.

Despite these gains, malaria remains a serious global health challenge, with an estimated 282 million cases and 610, 000 deaths in 2024. WHO warned that the hard-won gains are under threat as drug and insecticide resistance, extreme weather events, and declining investment are leaving more communities exposed and vulnerable, thereby stalling progress towards malaria elimination.

In Nigeria, malaria is a severe public health crisis with 97 per cent of the population at risk of being infected.According to the 2025 World Malaria Report, Nigeria bears the highest burden of malaria globally with 24.3 per cent of the global estimated malaria cases and 30.3 per cent of the estimated deaths.

The country accounted for estimated 54.6 per cent of malaria cases in West Africa in 2024, which was attributed to its large population as well as other factors such as sanitation management and vegetation, which favours mosquito breeding and accounts for the persistent rise in malaria transmission.

According to Malaria Consortium, Nigeria loses about $1.1 billion every year to malaria treatment, prevention, and lost productivity.The Global Fund has invested $365 million on malaria in Nigeria under the GC7 covering 2024-2026.

Findings by The Guardian showed that the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), which has been supporting Nigeria’s malaria control efforts in 11 states before 2025, has scaled down its support to seven states.

However, data from the Nigeria Malaria Indicator Survey (NMIS) 2025 showed that Nigeria has made tremendous progress in the fight against malaria with a significant reduction in the national malaria prevalence from 42 per cent in 2010 to 15 per cent in 2025.

In an interview with The Guardian, the National Coordinator of the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) in the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Nnenna Ogbulafor, said that the NMIS 2025 showed a significant reduction in the national malaria prevalence from 42 per cent in 2010 to 22 per cent in 2021 and 15 per cent in 2025.

She said: “This means that in a community, when you test 100 children aged six to 59 months, whether they are sick or not, about 15 of them will have malaria parasites. This is a giant stride in malaria control and elimination efforts in Nigeria. It showed improvements in prevention, treatment, and awareness.”

Ogbulafor, however, observed that significant gaps remain, which leaves many Nigerians, particularly pregnant women and children under five, at continued risk of getting infected.

She noted that Nigeria has developed a new National Malaria Strategic Implementation Plan (2026–2030) which focuses on strengthening high-impact interventions and accelerating the malaria elimination agenda within four years.

The NMEP boss explained that the National Malaria Strategic Implementation Plan has a national goal of reducing the parasite prevalence by 50 percent and deaths attributed to malaria by 50 percent, while the sub-national goal is to achieve very low prevalence in the two low transmission states and 30 percent reduction in prevalence in the moderate transmission intensity states.

Ogbulafor noted that the final cost for the strategic plan is still not out, but the amount is expected to run into trillions of naira.She noted that based on the WHO classification for malaria transmission, Nigeria no longer has any states in high transmission mode.

Ogbulafor stated that Lagos and Plateau are now classified as low transmission states with prevalence rate of 2.6 percent while the remaining 34 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are on moderate transmission.

She said: “According to WHO classification for transmission, which is classified into high, moderate, low, and very low, we don’t have any high transmission states anymore looking at them in terms of states; even though looking at them from the angle of the local councils, there may be high transmission local councils.”

Ogbulafor emphasised that the approved anti-malaria drugs being used in country are still very effective, adding that they are above the 90/95 percent benchmark in terms of efficacy of molecules. She noted that therapeutic drug efficacy studies are usually conducted to monitor the efficacy of these molecules.

Ogbulafor noted that the government is scaling up the malaria vaccination to more states and has added Bauchi and Ondo to the first two pilot states of Kebbi and Bayelsa.

Ogbulafor confirmed that Nigeria is among countries that have recorded pyrethroids resistance, adding that this resistance has been with the country since the 50s.

“Since 2012, we started a coordinated insecticide resistance surveillance to monitor this resistance. As of 2025, we have 27 states having thesesurveillance activities and these surveillance activities is data that is used for decision on the type of insecticide nets to be deployed. Because of the pyrethroid resistance, new nets have been developed –what we call the dual AI nets, and the Piperonyl Butoxide long-lasting insecticidal (PBO) nets. We can say the net is still effective because they are new generation nets.”

She further noted that the country has flagged off vector control mechanisms, like the lava source management, which was approved by the National Council on Health in 2025 as a complementary vector control intervention for Nigeria.

Ogbulafor explained that the lava source management has been introduced in five states as pilots, describing it as comprehensive vector control intervention that involves targeted management of mosquito breeding sites to reduce the density of larvae and pupae, preventing them from developing into adults.

The Executive Director of the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) of the Global Fund, Tajudeen Ibrahim, told The Guardian that Nigeria is making significant progress in malaria control, noting that strengthened surveillance systems, wider distribution of insecticide-treated nets, expanded seasonal malaria chemoprevention programmes, and improved case management are contributing to this progress.

Ibrahim, however, pointed out that challenges persist, including a detection gap of nearly 40 per cent, poverty, undernutrition, overcrowding, and unemployment, which exacerbate the burden of malaria in addition to poor funding.

He observed that Nigeria’s investment in malaria response is increasing, but more funding is needed to achieve elimination goals; adding that the Global Fund is supporting Nigeria’s malaria control efforts through grants for insecticide-treated nets, seasonal malaria chemoprevention campaigns, case management, data systems strengthening, and other interventions.

Ibrahim stated that to end malaria, Nigeria should sustain investments in malaria control, strengthen healthcare systems, improve access to preventive and treatment services, and address underlying socio-economic determinants. He added that collaboration between government, private sector, and communities is crucial for achieving sustainable results.

He disclosed that the malaria vaccine is being rolled out in a phased manner, starting with Kebbi and Bayelsa States, and recently Bauchi State. “This phased approach is likely due to the need to ensure effective implementation, monitoring, and follow-up to maximise protection for eligible children.”

Ibrahim expressed concern over pyrethroid resistance, which has been confirmed in 48 out of 53 reporting countries by the WHO, adding that experts are exploring alternative strategies such as using dual AI insecticide-treated nets and larval source management. Ibrahim observed that the Rethinking Malaria concept is also yielding results through new tools like the malaria vaccine and improved local manufacturing of malaria commodities.

He emphasised that to combat Anopheles stephensi, which is fast spreading across Africa, Nigeria should enhance surveillance, improve vector control measures, and develop targeted interventions for urban areas; adding that collaboration with international partners and research institutions can help the country stay ahead of this emerging threat.

On his part, the National Coordinator, Civil Society in Malaria Control, Immunisation and Nutrition (ACOMIN), Mr. Ayo Ipinmoye, identified resourcing as a major challenge confronting malaria elimination in Nigeria and emphasised the need for the government, the private sector and philanthropists to invest in the malaria response to sustain the gains being recorded in the fight against malaria scourge.

Ipinmoye, who highlighted the need for community ownership and community participation in the malaria programme, lamented that in many cases, when the government and partners procure and distribute nets, some community members, instead of sleeping under them, use them for fishing, clothing and other purposes thereby sabotaging the effectiveness of the intervention.

“So, we need our people and communities to ensure that they sleep under the nets, that they take their medicines on time, and that they go for testing before treatment. They also need to keep the environment free of stagnant water. The government is not going to do that for us. We have to do that by ourselves, and we must take ownership of our health outcomes,” he said.

Ipinmoye underscored the importance of technology in driving interventions, stressing that most of the resources used for malaria treatment or prevention in Nigeria are imported, thereby causing capital flight. He called on well-to-do citizens to use their resources to set up factories, manufacture nets, produce medicines, and make all the other equipment the country require.

A Professor of Pediatrics and Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Calabar and Chief Consultant Paediatrician at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital,Prof. Martin Madu Meremikwu, highlighted the need to deploy new innovations and scientific research in tackling the malaria epidemic in the country.

He stated that malaria is a disease with complex nature, adding that many research are ongoing on the disease – the complex chemicals that either cure or prevent malaria and how climate is also impacting malaria.
Meremikwu told The Guardian that drug resistance has been a major challenge in malaria control, adding that when drug is used wrongly, or not used enough to kill the parasites, it leads to resistance.

He, however, pointed out that Nigeria carries out drug efficacy study and molecular analysis on ACTs being used for malaria treatment in the country and results show that there is no resistance to the medications unlike in East and Southern Africa where resistance is being recorded at the moment.

Also speaking, an Associate Professor of Chemistry at Obafemi Awolowo University, Olatomide Fadare, said that a strategic shift towards synthetic drug development could significantly improve outcomes, warning that overreliance on imported Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) continues to slow progress.

Fadare explained that his research group is leveraging computational techniques, also known as rational drug design, to develop new anti-malarial compounds. He described the approach as more precise and targeted than traditional methods.

He said that unlike conventional practices that rely heavily on extracting compounds from plants, his team focuses on identifying key metabolic processes in the malaria parasite and designing molecules that can inhibit enzymes critical to its survival. According to him, disrupting these enzymes could shut down the parasite’s biological functions or limit its multiplication, enabling the body’s immune system to respond more effectively.

Fadare told The Guardian that while plant-derived compounds have historically contributed to malaria treatment, many do not ultimately become viable drugs. He explained that this is often due to challenges related to stability and pharmacokinetics, including how such compounds behave, break down or are absorbed in the human body, making them less reliable in clinical use.

Fadare said these limitations make synthetic modification necessary, pointing out that some of the most effective anti-malarial therapies are not used in their original plant form but as improved synthetic derivatives.

The researcher stressed that reliance on imported active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) continues to raise concerns about quality assurance,arguing that local production would improve regulatory oversight and boost public confidence in medicines.

According to him, Nigeria has the technical expertise needed to produce APIs locally, particularly within its universities, but a disconnect between academia and industry has slowed progress. He called for stronger collaboration, noting that bridging this gap could reduce costs and accelerate local drug manufacturing.