Nigerians could be at risk of developing resistance to malaria when prescribed antimalarial doses are not completed, a medical expert has said.
The Deputy Medical Director of Faith Hospital, Ajao Estate, Lagos State, Dr Jane Ebhomielen, who stated this, also revealed that malaria resistance had become a problem as many Nigerians had developed resistance to the disease due to their unfaithfulness to the prescribed dosage.
She also reiterated that malaria is a serious medical issue that should not be taken lightly. This is as the World Health Organisation in a recent statement revealed that the African Region alone in 2021 accounted for an estimated 234 million cases of malaria and 593, 000 deaths, thus bearing the heaviest burden of over 95% of cases and 96% of deaths globally, the agency said
Speaking in commemoration of the World Malaria Day celebrated annually on the April 25, Dr Ebhomielen also noted that, “One of the problems Nigerians have with malaria is self-medication because when a child has a fever the tendency is to buy some medication to give them while the other problem we have is resistance. This is so because sometimes they’d start treatment but they will not finish. When you do that, you tend to create resistance and generally in Nigeria now, the problem is that there’s a lot of resistance to malaria.”
To combat this, the medical expert stressed that it is important that before starting treatment, a blood test should be done to ensure that the person is really suffering from malaria and after that, the person takes the appropriate medication and ensures they complete it because not completing it creates malaria resistance.”
Dr. Ebhomielen also stated that a person who has a resistant form of malaria, especially children under 10, are at greater risk of suffering severe conditions such as cerebral malaria that affects the brain, unconsciousness and also dying from the disease.
