Fred Ezeh, Abuja
National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) has raised the alarm that more people might die due to disruptions in malaria prevention programmes as a result of global attention that shifted to COVID-19.
Its National Coordinator, Dr. Audu Bala Mohammed, a press briefing in Abuja, said the hype in COVID-19 reported cases had become a stumbling block in the treatment of malaria patients, because COVID-19 entry symptoms are same as malaria.
Mohammed, represented by the Head, Advocacy Communication and Social Mobilisation Unit of the agency, Mr. Okoronkwo Chukwu, pointed out that members of the public were scared of visiting health care facilities for fear of stigmatisation as COVID-19 symptoms were similar to that of malaria.
“Stigmatisation drives people to hide the illness to avoid discrimination. It prevents people from seeking healthcare immediately and discourage them from adopting healthy behaviors, and could even cause risk of mental breakdown in event of isolation, loneliness and even fear of death.
“Recent projections suggest that where most prevention activities were cancelled or delayed due to the attention on COVID-19, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa , malaria deaths could double by end of this year.
“It is, therefore, critical that Nigeria and other malaria endemic countries minimise disruptions in malaria prevention and treatment programmes during COVID-19 response, given that failure to do so could lead to catastrophic loss of life.”
NMEP said since the beginning of the year, all activities and intervention programmes lined up for the year that would have helped consolidate the gains made so far in the fight against malaria have either been canceled or realigned due to the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic.
NMEP said though Nigeria had recorded significant progress in reduction of malaria prevalence from 42 per cent to 23 per cent along with a 38 per cent reduction in mortality, according to the 2018 National Demographic Health Survey results, a lot still needed to be done to achieve the country’s malaria strategic plan.
He encouraged African countries to work towards increasing access to healthcare services despite several challenges posed by COVID-19.
Head, Integrated Vector Management of NMEP, Philip Okoko, disclosed that the agency was rolling out about 17 million mosquito net distribution in Adamawa, Osun, Kwara, Oyo, Benue, Plateau and Zamfara States.