By Idu Jude
The Federal Government of Nigeria has said that for the malaria control program of the Federal Government to be a success, that the key Indicator Survey must be assured to ascertain the effectiveness of the control program.
The minister of Health Dr. Osagie Ehanire gave this remark Wednesday during the official launch of the key indicator survey in Abuja.
The minister during the program, recall that the last in-country malaria indicator survey was conducted in 2015, during which information derived from the study provided us the opportunities to ascertain the progress made in the national malaria control efforts.
According to Ehanire, Malaria remains a major cause of hospital attendance in Nigeria especially among children under five years and pregnant women leading to an estimated 94,070 deaths and 61 million malaria cases (WMR 2020).
He said, However, that significant achievements have been recorded with the huge investments made by partners and the government of Nigeria.
He said, based on the trajectory in the achievements being recorded over time there has been a gradual paradigm shift from malaria control to malaria elimination, informed by evidence tracked over the years and the use of innovative technologies in activity implementation.
“Distinguished guests, it has been six (6) years since the conduct of the last survey, although in between those years we conducted the national health and demographic survey with malaria being one of the programmes that were tracked. Government and partners have committed funding and provided technical and logistic support in the control effort.
It is therefore expedient to assess what had been achieved and to utilize the information garnered to guide decision-making and strategic planning. It will provide insight, among other things, on the effectiveness of the various interventions rolled out for malaria elimination in the country and give relevant information that will help us identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats”
While speaking earlier In a welcome address, the Director of Public Health in the Ministry, noted that 2021 NMIS when completed will also reflect how the key findings align with the performance framework of the operating National Malaria Strategic Plan (NMSP), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 3), the Global Technical Strategy (GTS) 2016 – 2030, and our efforts in achieving the Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
The Director of Public Health is also hopeful that the 2021 NMIS will generate the much-needed data that will help us to review our strategies for combating the malaria menace in our country, identify gaps, as well as afford us the opportunity to contribute our individual and collective quota to the elimination of the disease. As the saying goes: For a malaria-free Nigeria, play your part.
He said, “In the course of this survey nearly 12, 000 households in about 560 communities will be visited nationwide. Nearly 1,000 personnel from local guides to interviewers, nurses, and biomarkers will be involved.
They will: Collect information on various aspects of malaria some of which will be used to measure geographic and socioeconomic differences in malaria indicators;
Collect a blood drop from young children for anemia and malaria parasitemia testing; and provide treatment for those found positive, according to the national treatment guidelines”
“Permit me to remind you that the conduct of the second NMIS in 2015 witnessed the active collaboration and support of all stakeholders – States, Development Partners, Academia, Private Sector, Implementing Partners, etc. This collaboration, in part, gave rise to its successful achievement, providing what was needed to develop and track the National Malaria Strategic Plan, 2014 – 2020.
It is against this background that I want to express my profound gratitude to all our Partners that have provided and are providing the needed support (both financial and technical) towards ensuring the seamless conduct of this survey. I especially recognize the contributions by USAID/PMI and The Global Fund”
appreciated various Government Departments, Agencies, and Parastatals especially our key collaborating partners: the National Population Commission and the National Bureau of Statistics. I am not unaware of the contributions of the RBM Partnership and WHO towards the implementation of this activity. Let me thank the States in advance for their anticipated cooperation during the data collection phase. It is this collaboration that will make the difference once again.
I also wish to express my sincere gratitude to the Consultants (ICF International) who have been working behind the scenes and supporting the actualization of 2021 NMIS.
I implore all who are part of this exercise to commit maximally and put in their best efforts with a view to producing an internationally acceptable data that is representative of the national malaria situation in Nigeria”
“The Federal Ministry of Health, through the National Malaria Elimination Programme has been championing the control and elimination of malaria in the country. In fulfilling this mandate the Programme is collaborating with several implementing partners and stakeholders at federal, state, local government, and community levels.
Achieving the NMEP and indeed the health sector mandate is intrinsically tied with our ability to generate good data for evidence-based decision making and proper planning.
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It is in the above light that previous surveys had been conducted and these have helped in finding the most desirable and necessary high-impact interventions that will not only place us on a sustainable path to malaria elimination but also improve our overall health indices.
It is therefore expected that such data generating drive should be sustained in a periodic manner, hence the reason we are here today to officially flag off the 2021 NMIS.
The 2021 Nigeria Malaria Indicator Survey (NMIS) is a national sample survey designed to provide information for monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of malaria programs in Nigeria. The Nigeria MIS will involve interviewing a randomly selected sample of household respondents and women who are between 15 and 49 years of age and who live in the selected households.
These respondents will be asked questions about their background, the children to whom they have given birth, dwelling conditions, their use of mosquito nets and antimalarial medicines for themselves and their children, and other questions that will be helpful to policymakers and administrators in controlling malaria”
