The Lagos State Government has disclosed that only five per cent of fever cases recorded in the state are caused by malaria, urging healthcare providers to confirm infections through testing before administering treatment.
Speaking at the dissemination meeting of the World Bank-supported IMPACT Project, Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, said the long-held assumption that every fever is malaria has resulted in misdiagnosis and delayed treatment of other illnesses. He announced that all public primary and secondary health facilities have been directed to treat malaria only after patients test positive through Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs), noting that the policy has already led to a significant reduction in malaria diagnoses.
The Society for Family Health (SFH), which implemented the project in partnership with the Lagos State Ministry of Health, revealed that more than two million patients were tested across 603 health facilities, while over 50,000 confirmed malaria cases received free treatment. The project also trained 1,279 healthcare workers, increased malaria testing coverage to 98.3 per cent, and reached more than 1.38 million residents through awareness campaigns. Health officials said the initiative has contributed to a decline in malaria prevalence in Lagos and reinforced the importance of evidence-based diagnosis before treatment.