Restrategising Urban-Renewal Programmes for Effective and Sustainable Malaria Control

About 90% of all malaria deaths in the world today occur in Africa south of the Sahara. This is because the most deadly malaria vector, the Anopheles gambiae that breeds mostly in stagnant water is the most widespread in Africa and the most difficult to control. Nigeria contributes a quarter of malaria burden in Africa and it accounts for 30% to 40% of all childhood mortality and 11% of maternal mortality in the country. The World Health Organisation (WHO) strongly advocates vector control through environmental management as the best strategy for reducing malaria transmission in communities. Against this background, the paper sought to advance the integration of environmental management into urban renewal programmes for sustainable malaria control in Nigeria. In this regard, the paper reviewed the concepts and approaches to urban renewal programmes and its applications to health promotion in developed countries and in Nigeria. Results indicate that, unlike in other countries, urban renewals in Nigeria have largely been beautification programmes. Deriving from the understanding of the life cycle of mosquitoes, environmental management for malaria vector control methods advocated by WHO were proven to be successful in drastically reducing malaria in East Asia and the Pacific Region before the introduction of DDT. The paper therefore concluded that, through environmental modifications and manipulations as components of urban renewal, malaria can be reduced to the barest minimum in urban areas in particular. Therefore, a redefinition of the concept, scope and approach to urban renewal programmes that takes malaria control into consideration is recommended.