The House Committee on AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (ATM) has advocated for increased government funding for malaria control programmes in national budget allocations to reduce dependency on donor funding.

It pledges to support reforms that will promote innovative financing for malaria through business models and leveraging the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) Act.

Nigeria bears the highest malaria burden globally, accounting for an estimated 26.6 per cent of global cases and 31 per cent of malaria deaths (World Malaria Report, 2024).

Despite significant progress made through coordinated national efforts and donor support, the fight against malaria is threatened by inadequate domestic financing, weak health systems, limited political prioritisation and, more recently, dwindling international funding commitment.

In a communique issued at the end of Malaria Retreat with the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) and Development Partners, the committee while advocating for policy changes on Malaria Elimination interventions, underscored the importance of policies and legislation in the fight against malaria and reaffirmed commitment to necessary changes to support effective malaria control and elimination.

The Committee members pledged at least 50million naira each to malaria-related interventions through their constituency projects in the next budget cycle and beyond.

The legislators highlighted how self-medication is affecting the effectiveness of malaria treatments and suggested that legislation be enacted to discourage self-medication.

Key discussions at the retreat highlighted the urgent need to understudy other countries that have successfully reduced their malaria burden to ensure the effectiveness and informed decisions for some of the interventions deployed in the country, such as Larva Source Management (LSM), which, in their words, should be scaled up for Nigeria.

The legislators further suggested the need for a more holistic approach to LSM interventions, to be carried out simultaneously for extensive coverage across the country, for effectiveness, rather than being done on a small scale due to the intervention’s impact on the mosquito population.

According to the communiqué, stakeholders emphasised the need for increased inter-Ministry Department and Agency (MDA) collaboration between the National Malaria Programme and other relevant bodies, considering the multidimensional determinant factors of malaria and to effectively manage breeding sites, particularly as it relates to farming and construction activities.

They also deliberated on the inadequate coverage of malaria interventions across the country, with a recommendation for increased domestic investment to enable the extension of malaria interventions to all states of the country, especially at the rural and community level.

The Legislators encouraged the Malaria programme to engage more with them, both the Senate, the House of Representatives, State House of Assembly and Local Government Chairmen to have their buy-in and enable them to support malaria programs within their various constituencies. These could encourage them to support and fund malaria and other disease interventions, particularly within their various constituencies, for maximum coverage and sustainability.

The persistent unavailability and poor uptake of Sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) for Intermittent preventive treatment (IPT) were also discussed, highlighting the need to make such essential medicines more accessible.

The parliamentarians suggested that, since the administration of SP in pregnancy is mandatory, the provision and administration should be backed by legislation to ensure that the medicines are available. The Ministry of Health should strongly consider creating a dedicated budget head for malaria in the 2026 and subsequent budgets.

The Commissioner of Health, Lagos State’s presentation on Lagos Pathway towards Malaria elimination, was able to provide some insights into the efforts and innovative strategies the Lagos State government has been able to deploy to drastically reduce the prevalence rate of malaria in the state, as well as situate the state in a pre-elimination phase.

The parliamentarians applauded Lagos State for its innovation and commitment towards malaria intervention in the state, which has situated it in the pre-elimination phase.

They, however, expressed some concerns that the presentation from Lagos State did not highlight vector control measures, thus raising the fear that the elimination of malaria in Lagos might not be in close sight, as presented, due to the overall poor environmental situation in the state.
Recommendations

The National Coordinator of NMEP, Dr Nnenna Ogbuluafor, said that the engagement aimed to strengthen political commitment, mobilise domestic resources, and institutionalise accountability mechanisms toward malaria elimination in Nigeria, and to sensitise legislators on the malaria burden, existing interventions, and gaps, advocating for increased domestic financing for malaria control and elimination.

She commended the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, for his renewed hope agenda for the health sector, especially the rethinking of malaria initiatives.