A report by the Society for Family Health (SFH) says its 2025 malaria intervention programme in seven states protected more than 49 million Nigerians through integrated prevention campaigns.
The report, made available to journalists in Abuja on Thursday, said the intervention combined the distribution of Insecticide-Treated Nets (ITNs) with Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC).
It said the campaigns were implemented during the peak malaria transmission period to enhance population-level protection, particularly among children under five years.
According to the 2025 World Malaria Report, Nigeria recorded the highest malaria burden globally, with an estimated 68.46 million cases and accounting for about 30.3 per cent of malaria-related deaths worldwide.
The SFH report stated that the integrated approach strengthened state health systems and positioned communities for sustained malaria prevention gains.
It noted that by combining ITN distribution with SMC, SFH aligned with World Health Organization (WHO) and national best practices to maximize protection during seasonal transmission peaks.
The report said the beneficiary states were Delta, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Niger, Taraba and Adamawa.
According to the report, ITN distribution alone provided protection for 45.09 million people across six implementation states.
It added that SMC, using Sulfadoxine-Pyrimethamine and Amodiaquine (SPAQ), protected 4.17 million children under five during the intervention period.
The report explained that the approach ensured wide household coverage through bed nets while directly protecting the most vulnerable children through preventive treatment.
SFH said ITN micro-planning and implementation were carried out in Delta, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Niger and Taraba states.
Kano recorded the highest ITN coverage, with 14.67 million people protected, followed by Kaduna with 9.05 million beneficiaries and Katsina with 8.1 million.
Niger State recorded 6.25 million beneficiaries, while Delta accounted for 6.09 million people protected through the ITN campaign. Taraba recorded 1.66 million beneficiaries during the mass distribution exercise.
On SMC implementation, the report said Adamawa and Kano states were covered under the chemoprevention campaign.
It said 1.08 million eligible children were reached in Adamawa, while 3.08 million children benefited in Kano.
The report noted that the SMC intervention was delivered in four cycles at 28-day intervals in both states.
SFH said it trained and deployed 96,066 health workers and community volunteers as mobilizers during the campaigns.
“These mobilizers helped to build community trust, acceptance and ownership of malaria prevention efforts,” the report said.
It added that the intervention was implemented in collaboration with the National Malaria Elimination Programme, State Ministries of Health and other partners.
The report further stated that data-driven micro-planning, the use of digital tools and strong community engagement improved efficiency, accountability and reach.
SFH is a public health non-governmental organization that implements malaria programmes nationwide through partnerships and support from major donors.
