Malaria Consortium Urges Oyo to Boost Elimination Efforts

Dr. Kolawole Maxwell, the West and Central Africa Programmes Director of Malaria Consortium, urged the Oyo State Primary Health Care Board to intensify malaria elimination efforts during an advocacy visit in Ibadan. He emphasized the need to strengthen primary healthcare systems, expand preventive interventions, and utilize real-time data to target malaria hotspots.

Dr. Maxwell commended the Board for its support of malaria interventions and noted the state's reduction in malaria prevalence from 20% to 12%, attributing this success to collaboration among government, development partners, and health workers. He called for stronger integration of malaria interventions into primary healthcare services and urged the state to prepare for the introduction of the malaria vaccine by enhancing routine immunization.

Dr. Maxwell also highlighted additional WHO-recommended malaria prevention strategies, including Perennial Malaria Chemoprevention (PMC) and Intermittent Preventive Treatment (IPT), urging the state to assess their suitability alongside Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC).