This scientist went from survivor to superhero
After surviving malaria as a teenager, Jesutomisin resolved to be a part of ending it for good. Now, she’s a medical laboratory scientist and advocate, actively working to bite back against the disease.
Jesutomisin Apara, Malaria Youth Army champion and medical laboratory scientist, remembers the painful headaches and fever when, as a teenager, she was attacked by malaria. Her parents took her to a clinic where she was diagnosed and treated – and luckily, despite suffering a relapse, she survived.
Her experience left her determined to help bring an end to malaria for good, both in her home country of Nigeria and across the world.
"I have a passion to end malaria and see it eradicated completely – from Nigeria to the outermost parts of Africa and the world at large," she says.
Nigeria suffers the greatest malaria burden of any country, with over 50 million cases per year putting a huge strain on healthcare services and the economy. In 2020 alone, almost 200,000 people died of malaria in Nigeria – over 30% of the world’s total.
"I have a passion to end malaria and see it eradicated completely."
Jesutomisin became a medical laboratory scientist and works at the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital in Ogun State. She is actively involved in malaria diagnosis, among other diseases, as well as research and development.
Using special techniques in the lab, Jesutomisin and her colleagues identify and analyse the parasites that cause malaria, found in patients’ blood samples. What they discover not only helps to treat the patient’s malaria but contributes to research that helps improve malaria control programmes.
As a champion for the African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA) youth army in Nigeria, Jesutomisin raises awareness, and advocates for accessible and affordable treatment.
"In my undergraduate study I met with a mother who, due to unavailable treatment at the point of need, could not afford the prescription given by the physician – she lost a two year old boy," says Jesutomisin, "That was heart-breaking for me… I see it as a call to action."
Through public action, as well as innovative new tools in our arsenal to fight malaria from new vaccines to rapid testing, Jesutomisin believes that a future free of malaria isn’t just possible: it’s inevitable.
"To be able to have zero malaria in our lifetime, I’d say it’s a step at a time," she explains. "It’s actually achievable, it’s possible, and it starts from you and I."
Zero Malaria starts with all of us. No one should have to die from a preventable, treatable disease – join the movement today.
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