NIGERIA. Ogbia. December 17, 2024.
Permanent Aselo, 23 years old walks to the river to get water behind her house in Onuegbu community, Bayelsa State, where she sells grilled fish.

Permanent is one of the many Nigerian women who lost a child to Malaria. In 2021, the mother lost her first child to the desease, which affects children under five and pregnant women the most. As the most populous country in Africa, Nigeria accounts for approximately 27% of the global malaria burden and 31% of global malaria deaths, according to the latest WHO data.

Bayelsa, located in the southern region of Nigeria, is one of 24 out of 36 Nigerian states that have experienced an increase in malaria cases since 2010, with an estimated 673,000 cases in 2021, according to WHO 2022 Report on malaria in Nigeria. Bayelsa contributed to 1.0% of Nigeria's malaria cases in 2021.

In November 2024, the Nigerian government, supported by Gavi, UNICEF and WHO, started a vaccination campaign in Bayelsa. Talent, Permanent's last child, was vaccinated. Like many parents, Permanent feels relieved regarding the preventive treatment. "When I heard about the malaria vaccine, the first thing that came to my mind was, 'Thank God'. Giving my child the first dose of the malaria vaccine means that my baby will be okay, and what happened to my late child won't happen again," she said.