Programmes
Over the years, We’ve made significant strides by bringing medical care directly to communities, educating residents on prevention, and building strong local relationships. Moving forward, we aim to expand our efforts and create a malaria-free future for these communities.
Current Events in 2024
In 2024, we are intensifying outreach, providing medical services, empowering communities through health talks, and maintaining support via courtesy visits.
Free Malaria testing, treatment and Distribution of Bed Nets in Jaji Igabi LGA of Kaduna State, Nigeria –
We just concluded a medical outreach in Jaji Igabi LGA, Kaduna State Nigeria in collaboration with Bloom Health and Education Outreach where we tested and treated 191 persons including pregnant women and children for malaria, we also educated 300+ members of same community on strategies for malaria prevention and distributed 30 LLITNs firstly to pregnant women, nursing mothers and other members of the communities.
2024 World Malaria Day Television Interview on Rapid TV Abuja –
Our team lead Odinaka Kingsley Obeta was live on television with Dr. Michael Adekunle Charles, CEO RBM Partnership to End Malaria and Maelle Ba, Senior Communications Manager, Speak Up Africa to discuss the theme for World Malaria Day and to share the role of youths in the fight against malaria – https://youtu.be/k4UJF2mBfMs
Secondary School Malaria Awareness Campaign –
We have also collaborated with the Nigerian Medical Students Association (NiMSA) to flag off a nationwide malaria awareness campaign for secondary schools. This campaign aims to reach 108 secondary schools and targeting 54,000 students with malaria prevention messages.
Malaria Awareness Campaign to Religious Institution, Communities & Universities
This project is currently implemented in collaboration with the Nigerian Medical Laboratory Students Association (NIMELSSA) across 10 Universities in Nigeria. This awareness campaign which ran between 23rd – 30th of April 2024 reached about 17,247 people in various communities and religious instituitions across 9 states in Nigeria.
National & International Advocacy Campaign –
Through our work and the contribution of our executive director to vision of the African Leaders Malaria Alliance, we are contributing to malaria advocacy at national and international level. At the Kigali Malaria Summit, we joined other youths to call on world leaders to contribute to the global fund replenishment. At the 2022 Commonwealth Youth Forum, we also joined malaria and NTDs champions to vote “End Malaria & NTDs” into the priorities of the Commonwealth Head of Government Meeting. In Nigeria we have led advocacy for the establishment of primary healthcare centres for remote and economically deprived communities.
Research on Perception and Acceptance of R21 Matrix Vaccines –
Vaccine hesitancy presents significant obstacles to achieving herd immunity and effectively managing pandemics, such as COVID-19. However, this reluctance extends beyond just COVID-19 vaccines; it also suggests potential impact on essential vaccines like the R21/Matrix-M, which holds significant promise in the fight against malaria, particularly in Nigeria.
We recently submitted a research proposal to the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (RSTMH) aiming to understand how COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy impacts the perception and acceptance of the yet to be rolled-out R21/Matrix-M vaccine particularly among expectant and newborn mothers attending hospitals in Plateau State, exploring cultural beliefs, misinformation, and mistrust in healthcare systems.
Digitization Of Climate Change App for Tracking Climate Impact on Malaria Elimination in Endemic Countries –
In collaboration with Dokita a health-tech team we are currently contributing to the development of an AI model which will be used to predict occurrences and transmission dynamics of malaria. This model will be able to predict early warning systems and offer personalised solutions to malaria endemic regions.
Past Programmes
Over the years, We’ve made significant strides by bringing medical care directly to communities, educating residents on prevention, and building strong local relationships. Moving forward, we aim to expand our efforts and create a malaria-free future for these communities.
Jos Block Malaria Project 1.0 (April 23-25th 2018) – Angwar Rukuba Community of Jos Plateau State –
Here we carried out a school-based malaria awareness campaign at Mafeng Private School, Angwar Rukuba to empower 167 secondary school students with information on strategies for malaria prevention. Over 30 LLITNs were also presented to the health prefect of the school.
We also carried out radio awareness campaign across four local radio stations (Rhythm 93.7FM, Jay 101.9fm, KT103.9 FM, Peace FM 90.5) reaching over 40,000+ people across Plateau and Neighbouring states (Taraba and Bauchi).
We held a malaria awareness concert in the heart of the Angwar Rukuba community with six musical acts and key influencers in Northern Nigeria (Mallam Razphil, Kespan Yaron Zaki, Clinton Chaze, Nuel De General, MC Tsok) performing live at the event. At the event 70 LLITNs was distributed to pregnant and nursing mothers living in the community.
Our social media campaigns for this project reached over 11,000+ engagement across Facebook and Instagram.
Jos Block Malaria Project 2.0 (March 14th – October 20th, 2019) – Jenta Mongoro Community of Jos Plateau State
The Jenta Mongoro community with a population of over 30,000+ is located in Jos North LGA of Plateau state lacks a primary healthcare centre and the closest healthcare is sourced from 2KM for some persons living in the extreme end of the community
For this project, we had no grant but was able to partner with over 50+ local business, health student associations, community youth leadership to implement these six months project.
In April 2018, we mobilised over 500+ youths from three states who volunteered for a community sanitation program in the Angwar Rukuba community. The impact of this sanitation project led the community to adopting a monthly sanitation program and in May 2018, the community mobilised 712 members of the community to clean the environment.
We also carried out some media engagement on two local radio stations reaching over 50,000+ people with malaria prevention messages and the role of environmental sanitation in malaria control.
Still in April 2018, we held a malaria awareness concert in the community which featured local artists, poets and dancers from the community and a session on malaria prevention and a Q&A which responded to issues on use of bed nets from the community.
In May 2018, we held a medical outreach which reached 698 with medical interventions in thecommunity.
In June 2018, we coordinated the Jenta youth council for an advocacy visit to the ministry of environment to lobby for government support for waste management in the community. This was done but was unsuccessful as the community lack a good road network to aid waste excavation.
In July 2018, we commenced plans for advocacy for government to provide water, road and a primary healthcare centre for the community. The government only commenced road construction the following year but abandoned the project.
In September 2018, we commenced sample collection in the community for malaria research to assess the prevalence of malaria parasitaemia in the community. This data was needed to help establish a case for the impact of malaria in the state and was subsequently presented to the Ministry of Health through the head of director of research at the ministry of health.
In February 2019, the Plateau state government later distributed over 2,500+ LLITNs in the community.
To close the project, we held a second medical outreach for the community which reached 385 people including women and children
Zero Malaria Starts with Me Video
Lagos 2020 – In February 2020, we were represented by our team lead in a video production for the Zero Malaria Starts with Me global campaign video which was shoot in Lagos Nigeria and featured youth champions from across six countries in Africa alongside celebrities like Dbanj David Beckam, Eliod Kchipongo).
Mal-Camp Project 1.0 (April 25-26, 2021) – Global Sustainability Development Initiative (GSDI) Jalingo -
In April 2021, we partnered with GSDI to mark #WorldMalariaDay by hosting a malaria-awareness campaign in Taraba state University reaching over 300+ students of the university with preventive strategies for malaria control and elimination.
WHO x RBM Partnership to End Malaria Virtual Forum
Same April, our work at Block Malaria Africa Initiative was featured on the World Malaria Day Virtual Forum hosted by WHO and RBM Partnership to End Malaria and we received a commendation letter signed by Dr. Abdourahmane Diallo CEO RBM Partnership and Dr. Pedro Alonso Director of the Global Malaria Programme (GMP), WHO.
Community Sanitation Project with Junior Chambers International (JCI) University of Jos
– On June 5, 2021, we collaborated with JCI University of Jos Nigeria and the Plateau State Environmental Protection Agency (PEPSA) to mark the World Environment Day by carrying out a joint sanitation project in the popular Terminus market in Jos, Nigeria.
WASH & World Malaria Day Project 2021
– In collaboration with NIMSA Standing Committee on Public Health – During the same #WorldMalariaDay in 2021, we collaborated with the Nigerian Medical Students Association at Bingham University, Jos to carryout malaria awareness campaign at Government Secondary School Township where we reached over 345 students. We also discussed malaria prevention with pregnant women attending antenatal care at the primary healthcare centre in Angwar Rogo.
Advocacy to Ministry of Environment Plateau State for Waste Management
Our advocacy to the ministry of health was continuous as it involved advocating for waste management programs for all the communities we have worked in the past and our current project locations.
Recorded Malaria Awareness Music by Trending Musical Act in Northern Nigeria –
In 2018, Kespan Yaron Zaki a very influential musical act in Northern Nigeria worked with us to develop a malaria prevention song which effectively passes the message on how to prevent malaria and what to do when you have the symptoms. We hope to translate the song to 70 languages to enable local communities and minority groups understand malaria prevention strategies in their own languages.
Virtual Webinar
Over the past two years, we have facilitated 25 Virtual Webinars and Twitter(X) for organisations, youth associations across a number of countries in Africa including the Tanzania Medical Students Association, Pharmacy Association of Nigeria Students (PANS), Novartis Global Health, Malaria Consortium covering malaria prevention, malaria vaccine awareness, role of youths in the fight against malaria.
Future Engagement
We plan to expand our outreach, enhance health talks with new strategies, and strengthen community ties through frequent courtesy visits, aiming for a malaria-free future.
Research for Local Data
In the nearest future, we aim to delve deep into clinical and non- clinical research across Most-At-Risk communities to determine the factors limiting acceptance to malaria interventions and the gaps. Researching into these issues including perception, acceptance and uptake of malaria vaccines, extent of usage of LLITNs, health seeking behaviour for malaria diagnosis and treatments and much more will enable us produce local data which would be useful in designing newer solutions for malaria control in such regions and communities.
Scale-up community sanitation & malaria awareness campaigns
Feedbacks from our ongoing national malaria awareness campaign done in collaboration with the Nigerian Medical Laboratory Sciences Students Association (NIMELSSA) and the Nigerian Medical Students Association (NiMSA) suggests a limited knowledge of the causes, signs and symptoms of malaria across a number of communities where these campaigns were held. In the nearest future, we aim to focus majorly scaling-up malaria awareness campaign and community sanitation programme for Most-At-Risk Population across the 36 states of Nigeria and other endemic countries in Africa.
Produce Malaria Song into 70 Languages –
In the future we hope to translate this malaria song into 70 native languages to ensure effective understanding of the malaria prevention messages by various ethnic and minority groups.
Advocacy for the Establishment of Nigeria’s First National Malaria Reference Laboratories –
Despite Nigeria’s burden of malaria, the country lacks a reference laboratory solely dedicated to malaria research and serving as a repository for unique malaria samples which should be preserved for malaria. Our future engagements will focus on driving advocacy efforts for the establishment of Nigeria’s first National Malaria Reference Laboratory, something at the standard of the Ifakara Health Institute in Tanzania. This research laboratory will focus on both parasite and vector and also identify issues around antimalarial drug resistance, fake antimalarial
Digitization & Innovation of Local Solutions for Malaria Control –
As a youth-led organisation, we are very enthusiastic about technology and have leveraged technological tools in carrying out our rural engagements. Our future engagements aim to further explore the use of technology to innovate digital tools that could help in combating malaria in endemic communities. We are also keen on developing innovative digital solutions that would predict the impact of climate change and the spread of mosquitoes in endemic and non-endemic regions. The intention is to create digital solutions that are tailored to specific malaria control efforts effective at community levels.
Community Sanitation Project with Junior Chambers International (JCI) University of Jos
– On June 5, 2021, we collaborated with JCI University of Jos Nigeria and the Plateau State Environmental Protection Agency (PEPSA) to mark the World Environment Day by carrying out a joint sanitation project in the popular Terminus market in Jos, Nigeria.
Establishment of BMA Center for Malaria Research –
Centre Focusing on Clinical and Non-Clinical Malaria Research – One of our key focus for the future is contributing to the generation of local malaria data across endemic and hard-to-reach communities. This can only be achieved by boosting local research establishing a research hub which will provide the funding, machineries and resources needed for such work. In a few years time, we hope to establish a centre for malaria research which will enable us research into local and indigenous solutions for ending malaria in Africa.
Latest Events Photos
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