Comprendre le fardeau du paludisme au Nigeria

Timeline: Juin 2014 – Février 2019 | Status: Completed

Niger State (implemented across Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Ebonyi, Federal Capital Territory, Imo, Katsina, Kano, Lagos, Sokoto and Taraba States)

Project Overview

Malaria remains one of the leading public health challenges in Nigeria, accounting for significant illness, deaths, and economic losses each year. Effective malaria control requires more than treatment and prevention programmes—it requires accurate evidence on the scale, distribution, and impact of the disease.

Between 2016 and 2017, the Health Strategy and Delivery Foundation (HSDF), in collaboration with Harvard University, implemented the Understanding the Burden of Malaria in Nigeria project. The initiative sought to strengthen understanding of malaria's impact on individuals, communities, and the health system by generating evidence that could support policy development and programme planning.

The project contributed to broader efforts to improve malaria surveillance, inform resource allocation, and strengthen the evidence base for decision-making. By helping stakeholders better understand where the burden of malaria was greatest and how it affected health outcomes, the initiative supported more targeted and effective responses to one of Nigeria's most persistent health challenges.

Despite decades of investment in malaria control, the disease continues to place a substantial burden on health systems and communities. Understanding that burden is essential for ensuring that interventions are appropriately targeted and resources are directed to areas of greatest need.

However, policymakers and programme managers often face challenges in obtaining comprehensive information on the true impact of malaria across different populations and geographic areas. Strengthening the evidence base is therefore critical to designing interventions that can deliver the greatest health impact.

HSDF worked with academic and research partners to generate insights into the burden of malaria and its implications for health policy and programme implementation. The project focused on:

Examining the impact of malaria on population health.
Generating evidence to inform malaria control strategies.
Supporting data-driven decision-making and policy development.
Contributing to understanding of malaria trends and disease burden.
Strengthening the evidence base for resource allocation and programme planning.
Supporting broader efforts to improve malaria outcomes in Nigeria.

The project combined research and policy perspectives to ensure that findings could contribute to practical decision-making processes.

Reliable evidence is fundamental to effective malaria control. By improving understanding of the burden of malaria in Nigeria, the project contributed to efforts aimed at strengthening prevention, treatment, and surveillance strategies.

The initiative reinforced the importance of research and evidence generation in tackling complex public health challenges and supported broader efforts to reduce the impact of malaria on individuals, families, and communities across Nigeria.