The Federal Government, through the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP), is set to subsidise malaria diagnostic tests and medicines as part of efforts to reduce treatment costs and improve access to quality-assured commodities in underserved communities.
The initiative, known as the Affordable Diagnostics and Medicines Facility for Malaria (ADMFM), will initially focus on the private sector, particularly patent and proprietary medicine vendors (PPMVs) operating in rural and underserved communities.
The programme is supported by more than N2 billion in funding from the World Bank-backed IMPACT project and is expected to make about four million malaria diagnostic test kits and nearly two million treatment courses available.
The NMEP National Coordinator, Dr Nnenna Ogbulafor, disclosed the plan in Abuja, saying the initiative was designed to make malaria diagnosis and treatment more accessible and affordable.
Ogbulafor emphasised the importance of testing before treatment, noting that fever could be caused by several illnesses and should not automatically be assumed to be malaria.
She said patients whose tests confirm malaria would be treated with appropriate artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs).
According to her, the first phase of the programme will be implemented in Borno and Ekiti states, before being extended to Abia, Ondo and other states supported by the World Bank.
She attributed the phased rollout to limited funding but expressed optimism that state governments and the End Malaria Council, chaired by Aliko Dangote, would support efforts to extend the initiative to more communities.
Ogbulafor said the private sector was being prioritised because available data indicated that about half of Nigerians with febrile illnesses first seek care at private health facilities.
She said ensuring that suspected malaria cases were properly diagnosed and confirmed cases received effective and affordable treatment was essential to Nigeria’s efforts to eliminate the disease.
The NMEP coordinator called for an end to presumptive treatment of malaria, saying case management should be based on testing, confirmation and appropriate treatment.
She also stressed that affordable antimalarial medicines must be readily available at healthcare delivery points to ensure effective case management.
The Head of Projects and Specialty Programme at Emzor Pharmaceutical Industries Limited, Sunday Agamah, said the company had worked with the NMEP for almost a year to provide quality and affordable malaria medicines under the programme.
Pharmacist Rotimi Afolaogun of Codix Group said the company would provide rapid diagnostic tests through the initiative.
Jerome Dagun Joseph of Fidson Healthcare Plc also said the company would manufacture affordable antimalarial medicines, including AL-1 and AL-2, for people living in underserved communities.
The government hopes the intervention will lower the financial barriers to malaria diagnosis and treatment while promoting a test-and-treat approach, particularly among vulnerable populations in rural areas.
