Typical of the way and manner she runs her government and economy, Nigeria has displayed a vexed complacency in the handling of issues bordering on the health of her citizenry.
One of such health challenges the country is confronted with is the malaria scourge, which according to recent research discovery accounts for 30 to 40 percent of deaths in the country.
Even the World Bank has berated Nigeria on her non-compliance with one of the major focus of the Millennium Development Goals, which is health. Suffice it to say that the lives of children and expectant mothers have been cut short by this disease as infant and maternal death rates keep rising unabated. The World Bank went further to submit that except the problem of malaria is tackled with as much political will as Nigeria could muster, she would not be able to attain the MDGs.
Malaria is a serious health problem. Caused mainly by mosquito bites, it affects mostly children under the age of five and pregnant women in sub-Sahara Africa resulting in a death rate of nearly 3,000 every day. Most countries have successfully fought the scourge and drastically reduced the mortality rates therefrom. A World Health Organization (WHO) statistics shows that out of the 1.2 million people that died from malaria in the world last year, one million were from sub-Sahara Africa, with Nigeria alone recording one third of the cases.
Regrettably, however, Nigeria is yet to rise up to the challenge of fighting this deadly disease which many under rate but instead have an unassailable phobia for HIV/AIDS.
Besides the deleterious damage wreaked by the malaria scourge as a number one killer of particularly women and children, it is on record that malaria also accounts for the festering poverty and squalor in the country and Africa as a whole.It contributes in part to the elusiveness of foreign investments, as many tourists and potential investors shy away for fear of being infected.
What makes the problem even more scary is that due to poverty and ignorance most Nigerians either do not have the money to purchase anti-malaria drugs that are considered most potent or do not which of the drugs to buy. It is equally worrisome that the parasite that cause mosquito has over time develop resistance to chloroquine.
That Nigeria is still listed among the worst malaria-endemic countries in the world ought to be really embarrassing to our leaders. What has happened to the efforts, especially the huge yearly budgetary allocation, to combat the disease and the oft-celebrated insecticide-treated mosquito net scheme? It implies that all past efforts at combating this scourge have not been successful. So, what could have been the problem? It is either we have not been seriously committed to the battle or that our efforts have been continuously sabotaged by an insincere bureaucracy. Either way, what is needed is a renewed commitment on the part of our policy makers to frontally attack this scourge and rout all impediments to total victory.
It is against these uncomfortable realities that THE SANITARIAN suggest that the first step towards tackling the scourge is to solve the basic hygiene and environmental problems confronting majority of Nigerians. Gutters and drainages in urban centres should be regularly cleared while rural dwellers should be encouraged to always keep their surroundings clean. This would go a long way in dislodging the disease-carrying mosquitoes that breed in those filthy places. With that done, the battle is half won.
Effort should also be doubled at popularising the use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets by making it affordable and generally accessible to the majority of the people. The rural poor who are the most vulnerable victims of malaria are mostly neglected.
Malaria drugs should also be made affordable for majority of the people, as most deaths from this disease are due to the victims' inability to buy prescribed drugs.
So, it will not be out of place to suggest a policy review that will make the treatment of malaria-related ailments free in all government hospitals, as is currently the case with tuberculosis, another killer disease.
THE SANITARIAN also suggest that the Federal and State Governments should begin the mass cultivation of anti-malaria plant known as anticimilin. Anticimilin contains the active ingredients which could be used in manufacturing of anti-malaria therapy. The various state governments should take a cue from the Cross River State Government which has acquired over 50 hectares of land for the cultivation of the anti-malaria plant. It  is believed  that in few years to come  Nigeria should be able to heave a sigh of relief from the malaria scourge.