Malaria in Nigeria: Prevalence, Impacts, and Prevention
Lagos
"In Lagos State, malaria accounts for more than 70% of outpatient in the public health facilities. More than 700,000 malaria cases are reported annually. It is more prevalent among children under five and pregnant women where it can be more severe. over the past decade though there has been a significant decline in reported malaria cases.
Benin City
Blood samples were collected from children in Benin City. Where males had a significantly higher risk of infection according to their testing. Also age did not make much of a difference except for males aged 2-3 had a higher prevalence than the rest.
Ibadan
a test group of people from Ibadan took blood tests and 55% of them had Malaria. Overall children under the age of 5, males, and those without formal education were at a higher risk and had a higher prevalence of malaria.
Kaduna
Overall the prevalence of Malaria showed higher in males than females. Also children ages 0-4 had higher prevalence than other age groups. It also appears that the is higher prevalence during the Wet season and lower prevalence in the dry season.
Kano
The overall prevalence in the area was 60%. Those aged 12-17 here had the highest prevalence among the age groups and gender did not seem to make all that much of a difference.
With this map I have outlined the prevalence of Malaria in different locations across Nigeria. Also I mentioned how the prevalence is according to age groups and gender in those areas along with any other useful information. From what I've gathered there is not a super distinct pattern or similarities between the different locations they all appear to be different. So I've deducted that prevalence of Malaria in certain demographics can vary from location to location in Nigeria.
Now if we look at correlation between ITNs (Insecticide Treated Nets) and people who are positive with Malaria we can find some useful information. But first let's see just how many people have and use ITNs. Only 42% of households had ITNs but it was 75% in areas with a mass campaign. 19% of people with access were not using the ITNs. (Kilian) This is rather astonishing to me, I would think the government would be issuing these to everyone possible considering how bad Malaria in in Nigeria. I was thinking more around the 90% range. Also the fact that 19% of people don't even use them shows how there clearly needs to be more education on the importance of ITNs and the dangers of Malaria. This is further reinforced by the Dawaki's research. 74.3% of people in Kano state would go to a hospital to seek treatment, 78.2% of people have ITNs but only 48.3% use ITNs. 20% don’t even know any of the causes of Malaria. (Dawaki) One fifth of the population doesn't know the causes of Malaria and over a quarter of people would go to the hospital for Malaria. This supports how there needs to be more education on the seriousness of Malaria, the causes, symptoms etc. Also it shows how treatment needs to be more available and accessible to the public. There should be more financial support from the government to make it affordable for anyone to get treatment. “Despite high levels of knowledge and attitudes in the study area, significant gaps persist in appropriate preventive practices, particularly the use of ITNs ... health education regarding the importance of using ITNs to prevent malaria and save lives should be considered.” (Dawaki) Overall there should be more education on the dangers of malaria but especially so to certain demographics that are more at risk or prone to getting Malaria like those in my infographic and map (eg: area, gender, age, etc.). Also there needs to be a higher distribution of ITNs throughout the whole country and especially so to people that don't have them. I think that if we do these things then we can help lessen the impacts of Malaria in Nigeria and lower the infection and death rate.
