The Benue State Government has approved ₦294.53 million as its counterpart contribution to the 2026 Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention campaign, a state-backed intervention targeting malaria prevention among children across the state.
The State Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Dr Paul Ogwuche, disclosed the approval to journalists in Makurdi on Saturday. The decision covers the state government’s contribution to the 2026 Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention programme.
The funding was approved as part of the state’s preparations for implementation of the campaign across Benue’s 23 local government areas. Reports on the programme indicate that the intervention is designed to provide preventive malaria treatment during the period when children face increased exposure to the disease.
Benue had earlier indicated its intention to provide counterpart funding for the 2026 campaign. In April, Ogwuche said the state would support the programme financially and provide an enabling environment for its implementation.
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He also directed the state’s public health authorities to maintain coordination with development partners involved in the intervention.
The latest approval therefore formalises the state’s financial commitment to the 2026 programme.
Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention, commonly known as SMC, is a preventive approach used during periods of heightened malaria transmission. The programme involves administering preventive antimalarial medicines to eligible children at regular intervals during the transmission season.
Information from the 2026 malaria programme for Benue indicates that the state is also part of a wider distribution exercise involving 4.2 million long-lasting insecticidal nets across its 23 health zones. The programme information estimates that the net distribution is intended to achieve coverage of sleeping spaces across a population of about 7.6 million people.
The state government’s latest funding decision comes alongside those broader malaria-control activities.
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In April, the Commissioner for Health and Human Services described malaria as a persistent public health challenge in Benue and identified children under five and pregnant women among groups facing particular risks. He said the government intended to strengthen malaria prevention and maintain collaboration with development partners.
The state has also identified the planned SMC campaign as part of its wider efforts to reduce malaria-related illness among children.
The programme’s implementation will require coordination between the state health authorities and its development partners. Earlier planning discussions included the involvement of PATH, an organisation working with the state on malaria interventions. The Commissioner had directed the Director of Public Health to maintain collaboration with partners and provide updates during the planning and implementation process.
The ₦294.53 million allocation is therefore expected to support Benue’s contribution to the campaign as implementation proceeds across the state.
The approval was reported following a meeting of the Benue State Executive Council, with the state government confirming the figure as its counterpart funding for the 2026 SMC campaign. Another report put the exact approved amount at ₦294,530,000 and confirmed that the funding covers implementation across all 23 local government areas.
The decision keeps malaria prevention on the state’s health agenda as authorities prepare to implement the seasonal intervention.
Benue’s commitment also follows earlier preparations for the 2026 malaria campaign. During an April stakeholders’ engagement workshop in Makurdi, health officials and partners discussed preparations for the intervention, with the state government reaffirming its intention to provide counterpart funding and support implementation.
The state’s malaria-control programme extends beyond SMC. Officials had also disclosed plans for a mass distribution of insecticide-treated nets in 2026, following the previous distribution exercise conducted between 2023 and 2024.
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The combination of preventive medication and mosquito-net distribution forms part of the state’s ongoing malaria-control activities.
For the 2026 SMC programme, the immediate focus will be on translating the approved counterpart funding into implementation across the state’s local government areas. The state health authorities and participating partners will be responsible for coordinating the campaign and ensuring that the intervention reaches its intended beneficiaries.
The funding approval also provides a defined financial commitment from the state government for the programme, following months of planning and engagement with health partners.
The government has continued to identify malaria prevention as an important component of its health-sector priorities. The latest approval gives the 2026 SMC campaign a specific state funding commitment and clears a key financial component of the programme’s planned implementation.
Further details on the campaign’s implementation schedule, beneficiary numbers and distribution arrangements were not contained in the reports reviewed for this story and are therefore not added here.
For now, the confirmed development is the ₦294.53 million counterpart funding approval and the state’s planned participation in the 2026 Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention campaign across Benue’s 23 local government areas.
