YOHAN AFRICA is thrilled to announce the outcome of our partnership with the Nigerian Universities Nursing Students’ Association (NUNSA) in the Zero Malaria Mission mini-research project!
We congratulate the top three teams selected for their exceptional research work, offering innovative solutions to combat malaria in Nigeria and Africa.
The team from Osun State University, Osogbo, came in first position with the topic, ‘Assessing the effectiveness of current malaria control strategies in Nigeria’. They critically delved into current malaria control strategies that had been put in place by the Nigerian government towards eradicating the malaria menace but haven’t been utilized properly. They further emphasized the importance of utilizing them effectively. They identified a total of 34,200,000 studies on the effectiveness of current malaria control strategies through the database search and made use of 8 studies, of which 1 was outside Nigeria.
The team from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, came in second place with the topic, ‘Implementation of the malaria vaccine in Nigeria; challenges and recommendations. It was discovered that Nigeria was the second country after Ghana to grant the approval of the R21/Matrix-M vaccine, which has an efficacy of over 75%. They highlighted some factors that could lead to vaccine hesitancy, like fear of side effects and misinformation, financial constraints, poor logistics, a poor cold chain, maintenance, training, and human resources, and too many doses to be received. The ABU team recommended strong leadership and commitment from the Nigerian government, multisectoral collaboration, poverty reduction, investment in research, a strengthened healthcare system, and rigid regulations to check the influx of poor-quality ACT.
The team from University of Ibadan, Oyo state Nigeria, came in third place with the topic, ‘Attaining a malaria-free status using mobile-app-based surveillance targeted vector control intervention: A narrative overview. They portrayed the fact that attainment of malaria-free status requires a timely and accurate report of data which provides prompt intervention compared to paper-based reporting system that takes longer time. The efforts of nations like Zambia, India, Indonesia, Cape Verde and Algeria were highlighted as they were found to have used mobile technology to provide and synthesize data from many sources to provide decision-makers with actionable information almost instantly. Recommendations were made for awareness to be created on the effectiveness of vector control, proper spraying time/season and side effects, strengthening information dissemination as they will help promote the acceptance of the prevention strategies. Trends from the integrated area will be used to disburse vector control strategies to the affected area.
We are proud to publish their research online and provide scholarships for the winners to study at our research institute.
At YOHAN AFRICA, we remain committed to supporting the next generation of healthcare leaders and researchers in their quest to improve health outcomes in Africa.