Malaria prevention in Nigeria predicted

Authorities in Nigeria have forecast that by 2013 malaria will no longer be a major threat to public health in the country.

The Nigerian federal government has claimed that families will have universal access to treatment and prevention of the disease within four years, Xinhua reports.

A document from the National Malaria Control Programme of the Federal Ministry of Health in Abuja stated that Nigeria is planning for a long-term future without malaria.

As well as halving malaria-related mortality by 2010, "it is also to achieve the relevant Millennium Development Goals of combating malaria by 2015," the document reads.

It added: "Community involvement and empowerment will be a key cornerstone of this strategic plan."

A new monitoring and evaluation framework is to be introduced to ensure the malaria prevention methods are being implemented.

Around 250,000 children under the age of five die from malaria in Nigeria every year, according to Unicef.

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