In a decisive move to confront Nigeria’s malaria crisis, the Senate has passed the second reading of a landmark bill aimed at creating the National Agency for Malaria Eradication (NAME), a dedicated body to coordinate the country’s fight against one of its most persistent public health challenges.
The bill, titled A Bill for an Act to Establish the National Agency for Malaria Eradication and for Related Matters, 2025 (SB. 172), is sponsored by Senator Ned Nwoko (APC, Delta North).
It seeks to establish a central, science-driven institution empowered to lead an aggressive and coordinated malaria eradication campaign.
According to the World Health Organization’s 2024 report, Nigeria remains the global epicenter of malaria, accounting for over 184,000 of the 600,000 global malaria deaths recorded last year, highlighting the urgency of the proposed legislation.
Presiding over the session, Deputy Senate President Senator Barau Jibrin (APC, Kano North) referred the bill to the Senate Committee on Health, with a mandate to report back within four weeks.
During his lead debate, Senator Nwoko characterized malaria as more than a public health issue, calling it a “national emergency” with far-reaching social and economic consequences.
“Malaria is a structural crisis that undermines maternal health, reduces workforce productivity, and stalls national progress,” he said.
He presented sobering statistics, including the disease’s contribution to 11% of maternal deaths in Nigeria, its role in infant mortality and stillbirths, and its drain on national productivity due to millions of lost work hours each year.
Senator Nwoko criticized the current fragmented malaria control efforts managed by the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) and the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), arguing that these bodies lack the scope and capacity for a truly national response.
Drawing parallels with the COVID-19 response, he called for the same urgency, funding, and coordination to be applied to malaria eradication.
“If malaria were endemic in Europe or North America, it would not still be ravaging populations a century later,” he remarked.
The proposed NAME agency would be tasked with:
Designing and executing a national malaria eradication strategy
Coordinating multi-sectoral efforts across government and stakeholders
Mobilizing and managing domestic and international funding
Supporting research, vaccine development, and genetic innovations
“This agency must be science-driven, singularly focused, and legislatively empowered,” Nwoko emphasized, calling for political commitment commensurate with the scale of the crisis.
The bill received bipartisan backing from across the Senate, with Senators Victor Umeh (LP, Anambra Central), Ede Dafinone (APC, Delta Central), Babangida Oseni (APC, Jigawa North West), and Onyewuchi Francis (LP, Imo East) voicing strong support.
They hailed the proposal as timely and essential for repositioning Nigeria’s health architecture.
If passed into law, the establishment of the National Agency for Malaria Eradication would mark a transformative shift in Nigeria’s fight against malaria, signaling a move from containment to total eradication.
