Abstract

The escalating population growth in Nigeria calls for urgent attention to malaria control and the provision of accessible public health care for treatment of the disease (appropriate malaria treatment and intervention can, in turn, bring a reduction in the sickle cell disease (SCD) crisis). Malaria is a major cause of visits to healthcare facilities, which is amplified by the malaria interaction with SCD. Access to treatment is a basic need of the population in a country; however, in Nigeria, access to health care is generally poor. Healthcare facilities are sparsely distributed and services inadequate to take care of the health needs of the whole population. This article discusses malaria and SCD prevalence in Nigeria and analyses the spatial distribution of primary healthcare facilities in the Ikorodu Local Government Area of Lagos State, Nigeria, using Geographic Information System (GIS). Analysis is based on existing facility locations in relation to 15 and 30 minutes’ walking time in a 1-km and 2-km catchment radius, respectively. The results show primary health center (PHC) facilities’ coverage of 48 percent for 2-km catchment radius and 15 percent for 1-km catchment. Based on this analysis, this article argues that there is a need to increase the number of facilities for treatment that are optimally located to take care of travel distance and expand facility coverage. This will reduce mortality and morbidity rates due to the diseases.