The Lagos State Ministry of Health has advanced a dual disease elimination strategy targeting malaria and tuberculosis, declaring digital innovation as central to the next phase of health systems reform in the state.
At a high-level stakeholders’ meeting in Ikeja, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, reaffirmed the administration’s commitment to safeguarding public health through technology-driven partnerships.
He described malaria as a leading cause of illness, particularly among women and children, and stressed that digitising private health providers has strengthened surveillance and case management.
Commissioner for Health, Akin Abayomi, said Lagos has recorded a significant drop in malaria prevalence over the years, but noted discrepancies between community data and facility reports.
He explained that expanding surveillance to private health facilities and enforcing mandatory testing before treatment helped clarify that the majority of fever cases in Lagos are not malaria.
According to him, over 500 facilities tested tens of thousands of fever cases using validated rapid diagnostic tools, while more than 500 community pharmacies and patent medicine vendors were integrated into a digital reporting network.
The initiative, he said, confirms Lagos as a low-transmission setting and strengthens referral systems for non-malaria fever cases.
On tuberculosis, Abayomi disclosed that Lagos accounts for a significant share of Nigeria’s TB burden, with many cases still undetected annually.
To address this gap, the state is deploying portable molecular diagnostic tools through its digitally enabled provider network to decentralise TB detection and improve early diagnosis.
Stakeholders, including representatives of national disease control programmes and private sector partners, commended Lagos for aligning malaria and TB diagnostics within a unified, data-driven framework.
They emphasised that accurate data, sustainable financing and political will are critical to eliminating infectious diseases.
The event culminated in the unveiling of a tuberculosis diagnostic scale-up initiative tagged “End TB Now,” signalling a renewed push toward integrated, technology-powered disease elimination and improved health security in Lagos.