A Senate proposal to create a dedicated National Agency for Malaria Eradication has divided health sector stakeholders, with officials raising concerns about bureaucratic overlap, while advocates are pushing for a specialised institutional response to Nigeria’s malaria burden.
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The contentious bill, sponsored by Senator Ned Nwoko of Delta State, faced strong opposition from federal government representatives during Thursday’s public hearing organised by the Senate Committee on Health (Secondary and Tertiary).
Federal Ministry of Justice Chief State Counsel Imarha Reuben led the resistance, arguing the proposed agency would violate government efficiency reforms.
“Creating such an agency would lead to duplication of already existing ones and runs contrary to the implementation of Orosanye’s report,” Reuben stated, referencing federal efforts to streamline government agencies.
Medical experts also questioned the institutional approach. Chairman of Nigeria’s Malaria Technical Working Group, Dr. Kolawole Maxwell, warned against fragmenting the health sector, suggesting that coordinated government efforts would prove more effective than creating another standalone agency.
“If malaria is taken out as an agency, it leads to another fragmentation of the health sector,” Maxwell argued, advocating instead for integrated elimination strategies within existing structures.
NAFDAC‘s Director of Post-Marketing Surveillance, Fraden Bitrus, echoed these concerns, calling for strengthened efforts within current frameworks rather than establishing new bureaucratic structures.
However, grassroots health advocates strongly endorsed the proposal. Dr. Chioma Amajoh, Executive Director of Community Vision Initiative, argued that decades of clinical case management had failed to control malaria’s spread, necessitating a specialised institutional response.
“The agency would serve as a required springboard for coordinated action against malaria,” Amajoh told the committee, urging lawmakers to advance the legislation.
Environmental health professionals also backed the initiative. Ismaila Dankogi, representing the Federal Capital Territory’s Environmental Health Officers Association, said the agency could shift Nigeria’s approach from reactive treatment to proactive prevention.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio framed the debate in terms of institutional commitment, arguing that seasonal campaigns had proven insufficient. “It is time to move from seasonal campaigns to institutionalised eradication, backed by law, science, and accountability,” he declared.
Committee Chairman Senator Ipalibo Banigo assured stakeholders that all perspectives would receive objective consideration as lawmakers weigh the competing arguments about Nigeria’s anti-malaria strategy.
The hearing also addressed proposals for a Federal Oil and Gas Hospital in Delta State and investigated concerns about chemical fruit ripening practices nationwide.
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