Stakeholders in Plateau State said the most effective path towards eliminating malaria and reducing preventable deaths is through collaboration among government, development partners and local communities.
This is their submission to a symposium held in Jos on Saturday to commemorate World Malaria Day, with the theme “Driven to End Malaria: Now We Can. Now We Must” and the slogan “Let’s Do It.”
The event was organized to assess progress in malaria control in Plateau State and strengthen public awareness on prevention and treatment.
Speaking at the event, the Deputy Governor of Plateau State, Mrs Josephine Piyo, said the 2024 and 2025 Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) campaigns recorded over 100 per cent coverage across five implementation cycles between June and October 2024.
According to her, “More than 12,000 ad hoc personnel were deployed during the exercise in collaboration with the Malaria Consortium, helping to improve access to preventive treatment for vulnerable children.”
Piyo, represented by the Chief Medical Director, CMD, Hospitals Management Board, Dr Benjamin Sumi, also disclosed that the 2024 Insecticide-Treated Net (ITN) distribution campaign achieved a 96 percent success rate across the State.
The Deputy Governor said the State had made remarkable progress through the Ministry of Health and the State Malaria Elimination Programme (SMEP), supported by development partners under the present administration.
Piyo, commended the wife of the Governor, Mrs Helen Mutfwang, who served as the Net Ambassador, alongside wives of local government Chairmen, for supporting awareness campaigns and encouraging households to use treated mosquito nets.
She explained that support from the Global Health Supply Chain-Procurement and Supply Management (GHSC-PSM) project had ensured the steady supply of malaria commodities, including rapid diagnostic test kits, ACTs, IPTp drugs and Artesunate injections to 406 health facilities across Plateau’s 325 wards.
The Deputy Governor noted that malaria prevalence in the state had dropped significantly from 18.8 percent in 2021 to 2.8 percent in 2025, describing the achievement as evidence of the commitment shown by healthcare workers, donor partners, and communities.
Piyo reaffirmed government’s determination to sustain the momentum until malaria is completely eliminated, urging residents to sleep under treated nets, clear stagnant water, seek testing before treatment and ensure proper antenatal care for pregnant women.
Commissioner for Health, Dr. Nicholas Baamlong, praised the State government and development partners for maintaining consistent support for malaria interventions.
Also speaking, Malaria Consortium representative, Dr Mbwas Machor, said the organisation had worked with Plateau since 2021, delivering preventive medicine monthly to over one million children aged between three and 59 months during peak transmission periods.
He called for increased domestic funding and stronger community participation, noted that the intervention had helped reduce malaria cases and deaths among children under five.
Coordinator of SMEP, Mr Kizito Ndak, said the goal was to reduce malaria prevalence from the current 2.8 per cent to zero.
Veteran journalist and recipient of A.B.C Yola, Reporter of the Year Award (1997), Hassan Umar Shallpella, works with WAP as a Regional Correspondence. He was trained at Institute of Mass Communication and Technology Jos and Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Training School Lagos.He was a News desk Editor and a Correspondent at the Punch newspaper and till 2019, was the Deputy Editor ofThe Scope newspaper.
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