… Unfolds Commitment to Tackle Antimicrobial Resistance
Korede Abdullah in Lagos
In a landmark move to transform fever management, the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, revealed that “95 out of every 100 fevers in Lagos are not caused by malaria.”
Speaking at the kick-off of a three-day Study on Malaria Pre-Elimination and Digitization Project on Sunday, Abayomi stressed the need for a shift in mindset among healthcare providers.
“For too long, the default response to fever had been to administer anti-malarial drugs, often without proper diagnostic testing,” he said, warning that such practices fuel antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and endanger public health.
The commissioner highlighted a new “test, treat, and track” strategy, supported by a World Bank grant and implemented in collaboration with Prof. Wellington Oyibo’s research team.
Under this approach, every fever case will first undergo a malaria Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT), with further investigations for other causes if the result is negative.
“We are really sitting on a very major problem of microbial resistance. If we don’t stop that practice, we are going to be the capital of antimicrobial resistance,” Abayomi cautioned, calling for strict enforcement against indiscriminate sale of antibiotics and anti-malaria.
Prof. Oyibo, Director of the Centre for Transdisciplinary Research for Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases, underscored the dangers of misdiagnosis. “If it’s a child that has pneumonia, and you give anti-malaria medicine without a test, that child will die quickly of pneumonia,” he warned.
Oyibo emphasized that Lagos is uniquely positioned as Nigeria’s only state at malaria pre-elimination stage, but progress is hindered by habitual misclassification of fevers.
The new initiative aims to promote evidence-based treatment and curb the rise of drug-resistant infections.
