Beyond Historic First, An Opportunity for Nigeria to Eliminate Malaria in Pregnancy
Lawal Dahiru Mamman
“We are immensely proud to have received WHO pre-qualification for our Sulfadoxine Plus Pyrimethamine Tablet for preventing malaria in pregnancy. This achievement demonstrates our unwavering commitment to improving maternal health and combating malaria, two critical public health challenges in Nigeria and beyond. We believe every woman deserves access to safe and effective preventive measures during pregnancy, and we are dedicated to making this a reality.”
Above is part of the speech delivered by the Managing Director of Swiss Pharma Nigeria Limited, Frederic Lieutaud, after the pharmaceutical company got the World Health Organisation’s pre-qualification for Swipha’s SP 500/25mg – a drug for the prevention of malaria in pregnancy.
This achievement has been applauded and described as “another historic first” and a significant milestone in the company’s resolve to improving maternal health and combating malaria in Nigeria and beyond.
Malaria during pregnancy leads to serious adverse effects on mothers and the fetus. Approximately 25 million pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa live at risk of malaria. Two institution-based studies done among pregnant women attending antenatal care (ANC) in Nigeria showed the prevalence of malaria to be 41.6% according to study published on Iris Journal of Medical Science, 2020.
Medical experts in the country have long been singing the same tune that combining sleeping under an insecticidal-treated net with intermittent malaria prophylaxis during pregnancy is the only way to ensure pregnant women don’t fall prey to the deadly consequences of malaria, such as stillbirth and premature delivery.
It is the best bet and the safest route to prevent these complications. By taking these measures, expectant mothers can stay one step ahead of malaria and give their babies a fighting chance at a healthy start in life.
Despite throwing money at the problem and setting up committee after committee to tackle malaria, Nigeria is on the brink of missing its 2025 elimination target, which is just around the corner. With less than four months to go, the writing is on the wall – Nigeria is unlikely to hit its target, and malaria will continue to be a thorn in its side. It is a bitter pill to swallow!
It would be recalled that in 2008, the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) set a target to reduce 50 percent of the malaria burden by 2013. Afterwards, there was the National Malaria Strategic Plan (2014-2020), with the goal to reduce the burden of the disease to pre-elimination level and bring malaria-related mortality to zero.
By the end of 2020, Nigeria was not among the countries listed by WHO that achieved the 2020 milestones of reducing malaria incidence and deaths. The listed countries are; Botswana, Ethiopia, the Gambia, Ghana, Namibia and South Africa.
Currently, there is the National Malaria Strategic Plan (NMSP 2021-2025) with the target to achieve a parasite prevalence of less than 10 percent and reduce mortality attributable to malaria to less than 50 deaths per 1,000 live births by 2025.
Beyond being a historic first, Swiss Pharma Nigeria Limited has been saddled with the enormous responsibility of ending malaria in hundreds of thousands of pregnant women in the country and beyond.
After this pre-qualification the offing for Swipha’s SP 500/25mg is global procurement, national regulatory approval, tendering and procurement, distribution and supply chain management, monitoring and evaluation and inclusion in national treatment guidelines, therefore, is this is a point of no return.
Upon success of all aforementioned, this is venture will open the floodgates for export, providing a much-needed lifeline to alleviate our lingering forex woes, not just profit for the pharmaceutical giant. So, the onus is on Swipha to sustain the momentum for Nigeria to remain on the forefront of medical and pharmaceutical discourse as the government should make effort to borrow a leaf their book.
Lawal Dahiru Mamman writes from Abuja and can be reached via: [email protected]
