The House of Representatives has tasked the Federal Ministry of Health to implement the national malaria treatment policy and make treatment of the disease in all public hospitals free across the country.
House Committee on Healthcare Services has therefore been mandated to liaise with the ministry, relevant international organisation and donor agencies with a view to ensuring free access to such treatments.
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This was fallout of a motion on Wednesday, by Hon. Benjamin Mzundu, who recalled that Nigeria has been identified as one of the countries with the highest mortality rate in sub Saharan Africa.
He argued that with several government strategies in place, “the cost of effective malaria treatment is still unaffordable to the poor rural dwellers on whom the burden of malaria is heaviest, and has frustrated the effort to control the disease”.
According to him, the National Malaria Strategic Plan 2014-2020, which was based on national strategic health plan, aligns with the national health and development priorities, adding that the strategy is challenged as over 100 million Nigerians are at the risk of malaria infection yearly.