Nigeria’s fight against malaria received a significant boost in 2025 as improved logistics systems enabled the delivery of more than 34.7 million insecticide-treated mosquito nets (ITNs) to communities across 10 states.
The distribution, carried out under the Supply Chain Initiative (SCI) coordinated by the Society for Family Health (SFH), is being described as one of the largest and most efficient malaria logistics operations in recent years.
Speaking on the exercise, the project director of the Supply Chain Initiative at SFH, Christopher Dangana, said the operation was implemented in collaboration with the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP), Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and supported by the Global Fund and other development partners.
According to Dangana, a total of 36,508,650 mosquito nets were transported from state warehouses to local government area (LGA) stores, while 34,700,750 nets were delivered to community distribution points for onward access by households.
The 2025 World Health Organisation (WHO) report indicates that Africa continues to bear one of the highest malaria burdens globally, with pregnant women and children under the age of five among the most vulnerable.
This makes access to insecticide-treated mosquito nets a critical malaria prevention strategy.
Dangana noted that beyond the scale of the operation, the logistics system achieved 100 per cent delivery to all targeted locations without any recorded losses during transportation.
To strengthen accountability and transparency, the initiative deployed a digital Logistics Tracking Application that enabled real-time monitoring of consignments from dispatch to final delivery.
The system, which was first piloted in two states in 2024 before being expanded to 10 states in 2025, tracks shipments through key stages, including initiation, transit, arrival, and confirmation. It also generates electronic proof of delivery, providing donors and health authorities with verifiable data on the movement of commodities.
Despite the achievement, the operation encountered several logistical challenges, including poor road networks, flooding, and difficult terrain in some parts of the country.
In the riverine communities of Delta State, transport teams combined trucks and boats to reach remote locations, with some consignments undergoing multiple transfers before arriving at their final destinations. Limited mobile network coverage in hard-to-reach areas also affected real-time reporting in some instances.
However, Dangana said the initiative successfully maintained delivery schedules and ensured that all targeted distribution points were reached.