110M Nigerians Have Malaria, $7B Spent on Treatment for Disease, Health Official Says
About 110 million people in Nigeria have malaria and more than 800 billion naira, or about $7 billion, is spent on treatment for the disease, Gabriel Aduku, the country's minister of state for health, said Monday at a health summit organized by the Northern Governors' Forum in the state of Kaduna, Daily Trust/AllAfrica.com reports. Health commissioners and directors from 19 northern states, as well as ministry of health officials and not-for-profit organizations attended the one-day summit.
Aduku said the country loses 132 billion naira, or about $1 billion, each year in lost productivity because of employee absenteeism and subsidized malaria treatments. About 11% of deaths among pregnant women and 35% of deaths among infants are malaria-related, the minister said. Aduku also noted that most malaria-related deaths in Nigeria occur in the northern region of the country.
Ayalew Abai -- the country representative for UNICEF, which co-sponsored the summit -- said he is concerned by the health statistics of women and young children, particularly in the northern region. Babangida Aliyu, governor of the state of Niger, called on governors of the northern states to work together to address the problems. He said that attendees would develop an action plan and mechanism for monitoring the plan's implementation in the states (Babadoko, Daily Trust/AllAfrica.com, 11/14).
