23 Million Nigerian Children Receive Chemo-Prevention Against Malaria—Buhari

Some 23 million Nigerian children have received the seasonal malaria chemoprevention, aiding reduction in severe malaria in children in the country.

President Muhammadu Buhari made the declaration on Friday in Kigali at the Summit on Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs).

The summit is part of activities at the on-going 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in the Rwandan capital.

President Buhari was represented by the Minister of Health, Mr Osagie Ehanire, who delivered a speech on his behalf.

The Nigerian leader told the summit that in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nigeria delivered on commitments made at the London CHOGM malaria summit in 2018.

He tasked Commonwealth leaders to renew commitment toward eliminating the disease while assuring best efforts by his government to mobilise domestic resources in the fight against NTDs and malaria.

He announced that Nigeria had secured 300 million dollars from the World Bank and from the Islamic Development Bank to cover essential malaria programmes and strengthen Primary Healthcare.

The president added that fatalities caused by malaria in parts of Africa mostly affect children and pregnant women, and urged low-income countries to join forces together to end the challenge.

The summit, hosted by Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, featured commitments totalling more than four billion dollars including funding from governments, international organisations, philanthropists, and private sector support.

Pharmaceutical companies also donated 18 billion tablets for preventing and treating NTDs