The Malaria Consortium has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening its partnership with the Oyo State Government, pledging to expand its support beyond malaria interventions to improve healthcare delivery across the state.
The commitment was made by the organisation’s West and Central Africa Programmes Director, Dr Kolawole Maxwell, during an advocacy visit by members of its Board of Trustees to the Oyo State Ministry of Health in Ibadan.
Dr Maxwell said the visit underscored the organisation’s determination to engage directly with government officials and assess the impact of its interventions firsthand rather than relying solely on reports.
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“We cannot continue to talk about Ibadan and Oyo State from afar. We felt it was important to come here, see the remarkable work your team is doing and discuss how we can strengthen our partnership,” he said.
He explained that Malaria Consortium, a UK-registered charity regulated by the UK Charity Commission, regularly deploys members of its Board of Trustees to programme countries to evaluate projects, provide strategic guidance and ensure the organisation remains true to its mission.
The delegation included Prof. Jenny Hill, Professor of Malaria and Global Health at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, who was born at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, and Mrs Jane Edmondson, an international development expert with extensive experience in health and governance programmes.
According to Dr Maxwell, the trustees’ visit was aimed at listening to the priorities of the Oyo State Government and identifying areas where Malaria Consortium could provide additional technical and financial support.
He stressed that while the organisation is widely known for implementing Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC), its work extends beyond malaria.
Addressing concerns over the selection of Local Government Areas (LGAs) for SMC, Dr Maxwell clarified that Malaria Consortium does not determine where the intervention is implemented.
He explained that decisions are made by the National Malaria Elimination Programme using routine surveillance data and established technical criteria based on malaria transmission patterns.
He also emphasised that malaria control requires a package of interventions—including insecticide-treated nets, effective case management and preventive therapies—rather than a single approach.
Dr. Maxwell welcomed the Federal Government’s ongoing efforts to strengthen primary healthcare through increased funding and urged states to integrate malaria services into routine health facility planning instead of treating malaria programmes as standalone interventions.
He further described hard-to-reach communities as a major challenge to malaria elimination efforts, revealing that Malaria Consortium has secured funding to better understand barriers to access and develop innovative strategies for reaching underserved populations.
He reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to working closely with the Oyo State Government to mobilise resources, strengthen health systems and expand access to life-saving interventions.
Prof. Jenny Hill, a member of Malaria Consortium’s Board of Trustees, reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to strengthening research collaboration and supporting malaria control efforts in Oyo State.
She also expressed her commitment to supporting Malaria Consortium’s work in Nigeria and expressed optimism that the visit would strengthen collaboration between the organisation and the state, creating new opportunities for research, innovation and improved public health outcomes.
Mrs Jane Edmondson, also a member of the Board of Trustees, said the visit was an opportunity to better understand the realities of healthcare delivery and identify new areas for collaboration.
Edmondson, whose passion lies in understanding how malaria interventions fit into broader health policies, health systems strengthening and sustainable development, said honest feedback would help shape future partnerships and ensure the organisation responds more effectively to the state’s evolving healthcare priorities.
The Project Director for Philanthropy-Funded Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (PF-SMC) at Malaria Consortium Nigeria, Dr Chibuzo Oguoma, said the organisation is set to protect the majority of children targeted for Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention in Nigeria this year, reaffirming its commitment to supporting the country’s malaria prevention efforts.
Dr Oguoma said Malaria Consortium currently implements SMC programmes in 14 states across Nigeria, with philanthropic funding supporting implementation in 10 of those states.
He revealed that the organisation is expected to reach about 65 per cent of all children targeted for SMC nationwide, while philanthropic funding alone accounts for interventions covering more than 40 per cent of the children expected to benefit from this year’s campaign.
Responding, the Oyo State Commissioner for Health, Dr Oluwaserimi Ajetunmobi, lauded Malaria Consortium for its consistent support in reducing the burden of malaria in the state and called for the expansion of Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention to more LGAs.
While acknowledging that the six LGAs currently benefiting from SMC were selected based on epidemiological data and malaria transmission patterns, Dr Ajetunmobi noted that several other LGAs continue to record significant malaria cases and should be considered for future interventions.
Recounting visits to primary healthcare facilities in communities outside the SMC catchment areas, she said many children presenting with fever, vomiting and other symptoms still tested positive for malaria, underscoring the need to scale up preventive interventions.
The commissioner also advocated broader malaria prevention strategies, including perennial malaria prevention in areas not covered by SMC, intensified social and behaviour change communication, and stronger support for hard-to-reach communities.
She urged Malaria Consortium to document its achievements in Oyo State through a comprehensive report highlighting trends in malaria prevalence, programme milestones and success stories, saying such evidence would strengthen policy formulation, domestic resource mobilisation and government advocacy.
According to her, the report would enable the state to demonstrate the value of development partners’ investments to Governor Seyi Makinde and other stakeholders while supporting future budgetary allocations for malaria control.
Dr Ajetunmobi acknowledged that operational challenges may arise during programme implementation but appealed for sustained cooperation, particularly in reaching vulnerable populations in remote and nomadic communities, where children remain at high risk of malaria and other infectious diseases.
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