Nigeria is scaling up malaria vaccination to new states as Doctors Without Borders warns that malaria and malnutrition are trapping thousands of children in a “dangerous cycle” of illness and death.
The National Primary Health Care Development Agency on Friday said the vaccine rollout has moved beyond pilot states Bayelsa and Kebbi to now include Bauchi and Ondo.
NPHCDA Executive Director Dr. Muyi Aina announced the expansion in Abuja, part of a push to cut infections in the country hit hardest by malaria globally.
Nigeria accounts for 24.3% of all malaria cases worldwide and 30.3% of deaths, according to the WHO World Malaria Report 2025. It carries more than half of West Africa’s malaria burden.
On the frontline, the picture is grim. Speaking in Katsina to mark World Malaria Day 2026, MSF Acting Medical Team Leader Dr. Alibaba Nuraddeen said malaria was one of the top three diseases seen in the group’s Inpatient Therapeutic Feeding Centres last year.
MSF treated about 26,000 children in its Katsina inpatient facilities in 2025. Malaria, acute watery diarrhoea and sepsis topped the list of illnesses.
Nuraddeen said malnutrition and malaria feed each other. Malnutrition weakens immunity, making infection more likely. Malaria then kills appetite and cuts food intake, dragging children deeper into malnutrition.
“Treating malnutrition without malaria testing risks delayed recovery,” he warned. Undiagnosed or poorly treated malaria can linger for months and push children into severe malnutrition.
MSF now screens every malnourished child for malaria in its centres and treats positive cases immediately.
Public health experts say Nigeria’s malaria fight needs all three: vaccines, early diagnosis and treatment, plus better nutrition — especially for children under five.
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With the vaccine campaign expanding and aid groups flagging treatment gaps, Nigeria faces a critical test against its deadliest endemic disease.
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