MALARIA BURDEN AND THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MALARIA CONTROL MEASURES IN NIGERIA: A Case Study of Asa Local Government Area of Kwara State.

Abstract

This study examines the trend of malaria burden and the effectiveness of malaria control measures using Asa Local Government Area of Kwara State as a case study. A total of 1200 households were interviewed using a questionnaire. The study used cost of illness approach to evaluate the burden of malaria. The evaluation was based on private direct costs (PDC) and private indirect cost (PIC) of malaria attack per episode. The findings indicated that 37percent of the population of the studied sample suffered malaria attack with a dependency ratio of 33percentage. An average of about 3 days are lost by sick adult, about 2 days by the caretaker while on the average a sick student  misses about 2  school days.     The total private direct cost of treatment is N375,480 billion, total private direct protection cost is N446,070 billion and total private indirect cost is N1.409,790 billion. The total cost of malaria illness in Nigeria was estimated to be about ?2,231.34 billion representing 7.3 percent of the GDP in 2011. Findings from this study also revealed that there has been a significant reduction in the burden of malaria on the economy when compared with the baseline study conducted in 2007. It showed a reduction in the burden of malaria from       13.3 percent in 2003 to 7.3percent in 2011. It is therefore recommended that government should expand the provision of free and highly subsidized insecticide treated mosquito nets. Households should also be enlightened on the importance of control and preventions from mosquito bite by using the control and prevention methods effectively. There should also be an increase in the availability of anti malaria drugs at health facilities and an increase in the access to laboratory services. More qualified health personnel,i.e. doctors and nurses, should be employed by the government in order to reduce pressure on the exiting health personnel and therefore, more efforts are needed in these suggested areas to reduce the malaria burden to the minimum target.

Key words: Malaria burden, Control Measures, Nigeria