Malaria partners have intensified plans to eliminate the disease across Abuja communities, pushing for stronger synergy and deeper community mobilisation to accelerate results.
The commitment was reached at the Advocacy, Communication and Social Mobilisation, ACSM, Core Group meeting of the FCT Malaria Elimination Programme held in Abuja, where stakeholders reviewed progress and collaboration gaps.
Programme Manager, FCT Malaria Elimination Programme, Public Health Department, HSES, Hajiya Zainab Ibrahim, said malaria control can only succeed through broad community ownership rather than institutional effort alone.
Addressing participants, Ibrahim said, “The malaria programme is not one person’s programme. It is for all of us because it affects almost everybody. Mosquitoes are everywhere, so we need you as advocates. The ACSM core group is very important in passing information and advocating for more resources and support.”
She said malaria affects every household and community, stressing that partners, health educators and stakeholders must operate in synergy to accelerate the FCT’s elimination target.
According to her, “Community engagements and social mobilisation activities go a long way in informing community members, mobilising them to access care, and keeping them aware of programme activities.”
Ibrahim urged participants to chart a stronger direction for the programme, adding: “Let us deliberate on the way forward so that we can improve the malaria programme in the FCT. Our goal is to eliminate malaria.”
She praised partners who joined field teams in monitoring ongoing interventions, citing the roles of the Malaria Consortium under the Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention, SMC, programme and mobilisation efforts by the FamKris project funded by the Islamic Development Bank.
Ibrahim noted that residents now have a formal platform to report any denial of care or obstruction to malaria treatment. “If someone is prevented from accessing care, whether by a spouse or any other barrier, they are free to report. No one should be denied the right to get tested or treated for malaria,” she said.
She added that complaint boxes have been placed in FCT health facilities to channel such grievances and encouraged residents to use them.
On his part, the chairman of the ACSM Malaria Core Group, Samuel Simon, called for stronger harmonisation among partners, saying dwindling global health funding demands coordinated state-level action.
“The only way out is for us to speak with one voice. We are already moving towards integration, and this should reflect in our planning and implementation,” he said.
Also, ACSM lead at the Public Health Department, Salamatu Nagogo, said the group’s focus is reducing malaria prevalence, boosting surveillance, and improving public awareness.
In her words, “We at the ACSM branch achieve this through awareness creation and improved surveillance and monitoring. This helps us make informed decisions and guide interventions.”
Nagogo disclosed that recent field reports show some community members are not accessing the free malaria testing and treatment available at FCT facilities.
The ACSM Core Group held its inaugural meeting on September 13, 2024, to guide the Roll Back Malaria partnership’s advocacy and communication strategies and to support coordinated malaria control action across the states.
