Dutse – The Jigawa State government has announced plans to reach approximately 1.4 million children with anti-malarial drugs during its 2026 Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) campaign.
Bilya Haruna, the state’s malaria control programme officer, disclosed the target on Tuesday in Dutse, citing alarming national and global statistics.
Citing the 2025 World Malaria Report, Mr Haruna noted that an estimated 282 million malaria cases and 610,000 deaths were recorded worldwide. Nigeria alone accounted for 27 per cent of cases and 31 per cent of deaths, he said.
Within Nigeria, approximately 24.47 million malaria cases were recorded. In Jigawa State, malaria infections were linked to 66 per cent of outpatient hospital attendances.
Scheduled to run from July to October 2026, the SMC campaign aims to protect children under five years of age from malaria infection. Mr Haruna confirmed that free testing and treatment drugs would be distributed across 610 health facilities, alongside preventive interventions for vulnerable groups.
He added that free insecticide-treated mosquito nets would be given to pregnant women during antenatal visits and to children under five during immunisation sessions.
The drugs to be distributed include malaria rapid diagnostic test (RDT) kits, artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs), and artesunate injections for effective case management.
