Nigeria’s NMEP and Sproxil are using AI and private pharmacy data to track and tackle malaria across the country.
The National Malaria Elimination Programme, working alongside digital health innovator Sproxil Nigeria Limited, health experts, and international partners, has launched a major technological partnership to transform how Nigeria fights malaria.
During a two-day strategic meeting held in Lagos on August 6 and 7, 2026, health authorities and technology developers came together to combine artificial intelligence, smartphone applications, and private healthcare data to track, diagnose, and eliminate malaria across the country.
This new tech-driven initiative is taking place across Nigeria, focusing heavily on integrating records from neighborhood chemist shops, community pharmacies, and Patent and Proprietary Medicine Vendors into the national health surveillance system. For many years, public health authorities in Abuja could only track malaria numbers coming from government hospitals and primary health centers.
However, in everyday Nigerian communities, the vast majority of people who fall sick with fever run straight to local chemist shops or private pharmacies to buy medicine or get quick advice. Because these private health visits were never recorded in government databases, health officials were effectively working with an incomplete map of where malaria was spreading fastest.
By introducing artificial intelligence and digital verification tools straight into private healthcare centers and government clinics, Nigeria is closing this massive information gap. Under the new system, when a patent medicine vendor or pharmacist performs a malaria rapid diagnostic test, they simply snap a picture of the test strip using a smartphone camera and send it through WhatsApp. Sproxil’s artificial intelligence instantly reads the image to confirm whether the result is positive, negative, or invalid.
The AI then tags the location, matches the result with verified anti-malaria medicine packs, and uploads the data into a central national database. This setup also connects with Sproxil’s AISHA conversational AI system on WhatsApp to provide instant health advice, train community health workers, and remind patients to complete their full medication dosage.
See Also: AI Safety Testing Environments Turn into New Cyber Risks as Smart Models Escape
The urgency behind this major technological upgrade stems from the heavy health burden malaria places on Nigerian families and the national economy. Nigeria carries one of the highest malaria burdens in the world, and despite progress bringing national prevalence down to fifteen percent according to recent surveys, millions of citizens still suffer from the disease every year.
When people assume every fever is malaria and buy drugs without testing, it wastes scarce family income and creates drug resistance. By using artificial intelligence to verify tests instantly and collect real-time data from every neighborhood, health authorities can pinpoint exact fever hot spots, send anti-malaria medications directly where they are needed most, and ensure public health funds are spent efficiently.
With scientific evaluation and data safety frameworks now being finalized alongside the World Health Organization and leading health researchers, this partnership represents a major shift toward data-driven medicine in Africa. As artificial intelligence moves from simple online chat apps to practical healthcare tools on local smartphones, Nigeria is proving that technology can empower local pharmacies and safeguard millions of lives against malaria.
About the Author
Jennifer Sakmufuwo Baba is a tech analyst, senior staff, and writer covering artificial intelligence, cybersecurity , and emerging technologies at TechRegard. Based in Nigeria, she's passionate about translating complex tech developments into compelling, accessible stories for diverse audiences. Her work focuses on how technology shapes innovation across Africa and globally.
