SENATE ADVANCES BILL TO ESTABLISH NATIONAL AGENCY FOR MALARIA ERADICATION
Nigeria is on the verge of launching a centralised, autonomous body dedicated to eradicating malaria, as the Senate on Thursday passed for second reading a bill seeking to establish the National Agency for Malaria Eradication (NAME).
The bill, sponsored by Senator Ned Nwoko (APC, Delta North), comes on the heels of a WHO report indicating that Nigeria accounts for 184,000 of the world’s 600,000 malaria deaths annually. Nwoko framed the bill as a national health emergency, arguing that the current fragmented structure is incapable of addressing the disease’s vast and evolving threat.
“Malaria is not merely a public health issue; it is a structural crisis that impairs maternal health, drains economic productivity, and impedes national development,” he stated.
The new agency will be tasked with driving policy, coordinating inter-agency actions, supporting malaria vaccine research, and managing resources efficiently. Nwoko pointed out that both the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) and the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) currently lack the capacity and focus to mount an effective response.
He further accused global health institutions of complacency, saying, “If malaria were endemic to Europe or North America, we would not still be grappling with it a century later.”
The bill received broad bipartisan support. Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin referred it to the Senate Committee on Health, which has four weeks to report back.
