The Senate, on Thursday, passed for second reading a bill seeking to establish the National Agency for Malaria Eradication, NAME, an initiative aimed at holistically addressing the country’s worrisome menace of malaria.
The bill titled: “A Bill for an Act to Establish the National Agency for Malaria Eradication and for Related Matters, 2025 (SB. 172),”;; was sponsored by Senator Ned Nwoko (APC, Delta North) and presented during the plenary session.
Leading debate on the general principles of the bill, Nwoko noted that, according to the World Health Organisation’s 2024 report, Nigeria accounted for over 184,000 out of 600,000 annual global malaria deaths, representing the highest in the world.
The lawmaker described the situation as worrisome and undoubtedly a national emergency requiring immediate and coordinated legislative action.
He observed that malaria is not merely a public health issue but a structural crisis that impairs maternal health, drains economic productivity, and impedes national development.
According to him, the disease was responsible for approximately 11% of maternal deaths in Nigeria, contributing to miscarriages, infant deaths, stillbirths, and severe anaemia.
The politician stressed the economic toll, including the loss of millions of man-hours, reduced business productivity, and a growing burden on healthcare infrastructure.
The bill proposed a centralised and autonomous agency tasked with coordinating national malaria eradication efforts.
The agency will also have the mandate to formulate and implement national policies on malaria eradication, coordinate inter-agency and sectoral responses with legal authority, mobilise and manage resources efficiently and transparently, as well as support vaccine research and genetic innovations targeting malaria.
Senator Nwoko faulted the current structure of malaria control in Nigeria, describing it as fragmented and ineffective, stating that the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) lacked operational capacity, while also saying that the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) has limited reach.
“A fragmented structure cannot confront a mutating threat. We need a unified, science-driven, and legislatively backed institution with the singular mandate to end malaria in Nigeria,”;; he declared.
The legislator cited the global urgency and funding mobilised during the COVID-19 pandemic, wondering about the global inaction on malaria.
“If malaria were endemic to Europe or North America, we would not still be grappling with it a century later,”;; he said.
After his presentation, the bill received support across party lines from lawmakers including Senators Victor Umeh (LP, Anambra Central), Ede Dafinone (APC, Delta Central), Babangida Oseni (APC, Jigawa North West), and Onyewuchi Francis (LP, Imo East), who all endorsed the proposed agency as a bold and overdue step toward malaria elimination.
The Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau Jibrin (APC, Kano North), referred the bill to the Senate Committee on Health for further legislative action, mandating the panel to submit its report to the chamber within four weeks.
