Malaria Faces a Tough Challenge with the Launch of MAPS in Nigeria (December 7, 2011)

Abuja | December 6, 2011

U.S. Ambassador Terence McCulley making remarks before launching MAPS in Abuja on December 6.

Ambassador McCulley poses with Senior Government officials of MAPS states including the First Lady of Benue State Dooshima Suswan, (c), during the launch of MAPS in Abuja.

Fighting Malaria scourge in Nigeria is taking a different dimension as a new Malaria Action Program for States (MAPS) was launched in Abuja by the U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria Terence McCulley on December 6.
Seven states—Zamfara, Ebonyi, Benue, Oyo, Nasarawa, Cross River and one other to be identified in the future—are participating in the new U.S. Government health initiative.

In launching the program, Ambassador McCulley said the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will provide approximately $82 million to fund MAPS for five years.  He described Malaria as a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Nigeria.  “Because it directly affects school attendance and workers’ productivity, Malaria can impose a heavy burden on poor households,” Ambassador McCulley said.

Mosquito-borne illness accounts for nearly 300,000 deaths in children under the age of five, as well as 11 percent of maternal mortality cases in Nigeria.

A major objective of the Malaria Action Program for States is to reduce Malaria-associated mortality in Nigeria by half in 2014 as compared with the 2010 level.

Among other participants at the launch of MAPS were the wife of Benue state governor, Mrs. Dooshima Suswan; USIAD Country Director Dana Mansuri; national Malaria Control Program heads;   representatives of donor communities; health commissioners from the six participating states; the Executive Director Malaria Consortium Suni Mehra; traditional rulers and the Country Director of FHI 360 Nigeria, Otto Nzafpurundi Chabikuli.