110 million malaria cases in Nigeria claimed

The Nigerian Minister of State for Health, Gabriel Aduku, has told a health summit in the country's northern state of Kaduna that about 110 million people have malaria with more than 800.0 billion naira ($6.71 billion) being spent on treatment. This figure seems somewhat high to the Marketletter, given that the country's total planned health care spending for 2008 is only $20.0 billion. Mr Aduku added that most malaria-related deaths occur in northern parts of Nigeria, accounting for over a third of infant deaths (35%), the All Africa news agency reported.

According to the World Health Organization, which published an in-depth study of the disease in Nigeria in 2005, the West African country's population is about 132 million, which would indicate a disease prevalence of over 80%. The Geneva, Switzerland-based agency also noted that "there is high resistance of the [malaria] parasite to the first and second line anti-malaria drug."