NMEP and Sproxil Set AI Roadmap for Nigeria’s Private Sector Malaria Response Ahead of World Malaria Day

 By John Koma

Joint plan builds on 24,000 AI-interpreted rapid diagnostic tests, more than 7 million individual patient responses, and 4.5 billion pharmaceutical traceability records already in operation across Nigeria’s PPMV and community pharmacy network

LAGOS, Nigeria, Nigeria’s National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) and Sproxil have agreed a joint plan to scale artificial intelligence tools across the country’s private sector malaria response, building on a workflow already operational at thousands of Patent and Proprietary Medicine Vendor (PPMV) and community pharmacy sites.

The agreement was reached at a strategic meeting in Lagos days before World Malaria Day 2026. Nigeria carries close to a third of the world’s malaria mortality burden, and the private sector handles most first-contact care for febrile illness. Building accurate visibility into what happens at that point of care has been a long-standing gap in the national response.

That visibility is taking shape at scale. Sproxil has now gathered more than 7 million individual responses from patients and consumers engaging with verified medicines across Nigeria. Within this dataset, completed patient surveys are geotagged and linked to verified medicine traceability records, giving NMEP a near real-time view of treatment-seeking behaviour in the private sector and helping direct supervision and supply to where they are needed most.

The diagnostic layer of that workflow is already operational. More than 24,000 malaria rapid diagnostic tests have been read at the PPMV counter using AI-supported interpretation, with each cassette captured by image, classified by the model, geotagged, and linked to the traceability record of the medicine pack dispensed. 

The pipeline does not stop at dispensing. A day-10 follow-up survey reaches each patient to capture whether symptoms have resolved, whether the dose was completed, and whether the household intends to replace its bed net. The result is a closed loop from suspected fever to confirmed outcome, all flowing back into national surveillance.

“We are not describing a future system,” said Dr. Ashifi Gogo, Chief Executive Officer of Sproxil. “PPMVs are using these tools today. The AI reads the test, the platform builds a patient catalogue, dosing reminders go out at the right moment, and a day-10 survey confirms whether the patient is well. The same workflow architecture extends naturally to other disease areas where private sector providers carry most of the load.”

The meeting, themed “Unlocking Private Sector Potential with AI,” aligned with the global World Malaria Day 2026 theme, “Driven to End Malaria: Now We Can. Now We Must.” Discussions covered diagnostic support, longitudinal patient follow-up, pharmaceutical traceability, and how data from private sector touchpoints can feed national surveillance.

“AI-enabled tools, when aligned with national policy, expand our visibility into the private sector, reduce irrational treatment, and give policy makers the intelligence needed to protect Nigerians,” said Dr. Nnenna Ogbulafor, National Coordinator of the NMEP.

Following the meeting, the NMEP delegation toured Sproxil’s operations centre in Lagos, including the production line that applies NAFDAC-mandated traceability codes to antimalarial medicines. Each pack carries a unique code that consumers can verify by free SMS short code before use, and which the platform logs as a traceability record from manufacturer to point of sale. Sproxil has now processed approximately 4.5 billion such records across 300 registered pharmaceutical brands.

That depth of operational experience now applies to a wider regulatory shift. Drug authentication, the binary confirmation that a pack is genuine, is maturing into full traceability, the longitudinal record of every step a medicine takes from manufacture to patient. Sproxil’s track record of 4.5 billion authentication transactions provides the operational foundation for that transition, and the integration with NMEP surveillance shows how traceability data becomes public health intelligence.

Dr. Ogbulafor used the visit to underline the diagnostic message that anchors Nigeria’s forthcoming National Malaria Strategic Plan 2026–2030.

“Too many Nigerians still treat every fever as malaria,” said Dr. Ogbulafor. “Some lose their health or their lives because the real cause goes untreated. The message we need to carry to every community is simple. Test first, then treat.”

Over the coming year, NMEP and Sproxil will advance joint work on three fronts. The first is scaling AI-supported rapid diagnostic test interpretation, building on the 24,000 events already processed, into wider state-level catchments. The second is structured accountability reporting from the PPMV and community pharmacy network into national surveillance dashboards. The third is targeted state-level pilots designed to validate the model for adoption under the 2026–2030 strategy. The same workflow is being readied for tuberculosis, HIV, maternal and child health, and other priority areas where private sector providers are the first point of contact for Nigerian families.

“Each of these numbers is a person,” said Dr. Gogo. “A mother in Sokoto who walked into a chemist with a feverish child. A vendor in Onitsha who reached for the right medicine because the AI confirmed what the test showed. A father in Kano whose phone reminded him on day ten that his daughter was still well. The technology only matters because of them.”

About Sproxil

Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Sproxil operates Africa’s largest pharmaceutical authentication and digital health network from its primary operations in Nigeria. The company is an official technology partner to Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and has processed approximately 4.5 billion product traceability records across 300 registered pharmaceutical brands. Its AISHA platform integrates pharmaceutical traceability, AI-supported rapid diagnostic test interpretation, longitudinal patient follow-up including day-10 outcome surveys, and accountability tools for Patent and Proprietary Medicine Vendors and community pharmacies. The same architecture extends to other disease areas where private sector providers handle first-contact care. Visit www.sproxil.com.

About the National Malaria Elimination Programme

The National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) is the division of Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health responsible for the country’s malaria policy, coordination, and oversight. The programme is currently transitioning into the National Malaria Strategic Plan 2026–2030, which sets the next phase of targets for parasite prevalence reduction, mortality decline, and equitable access to prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Visit www.nmcp.gov.ng.