By Shadrach Okon
In a bid to curb infant mortality in Akwa Ibom State, and Nigeria at large, Sarmaan Project (SP), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) committed to drug administration, has administered azithromycin drugs to over 36,000 children to enhance their life expectancy, beginning in the Ikono as the pilot local government area in the state.
The initiative came against the background of high incidences of death amongst children and infants in Akwa Ibom State.
The project coordinator, Dr Teyil Wamiyel-Mshella, disclosed this in Uyo, the state capital in an interview with journalists during the close out ceremony of the “Safety and Anti-microbial Resistance of Mass Administration of Azythromycin to Children aged 1-11 Months” at the weekend.
The NGO has also engaged caregivers to demonstrate the usefulness of the drugs in the state.
Wamiyel-Mshella, who coordinates the project for Sightsavers, an international agency, explained that the pilot phase conducted in the LGA was aimed at ensuring that children between the age bracket of 1-11 months receive the drugs under strict monitoring to ascertain their safety and anti-microbial resistance in children.
According to him, “Sarmaan project is a very good project that was introduced in Nigeria in 2020 with field work, and so far, it’s been very successful. The aim of the project was mainly to ensure that children between 1-11 months in the LGA where we piloted it, will receive acithromycin and alongside, we will be monitoring the safety of the medicine and also the anti-microbial resistance for azithromycin.
“Azythromycin is a very good medicine, it’s an antibiotic that is used for the treatment of many ailments that affect children and also contributes to infant deaths between 0 to 05 years. So this drug was used mainly to show the effects of it on child survival, that is why we were monitoring the safety of the medicine and its anti-microbial resistance.
“We have been able to treat over 36,000 children in Ikono LGA and we were able to engage with caregivers for them to know the usefulness of the medicine “, Wamiyel-Mshella said.
Earlier in his remark, commissioner for Health, Dr Ekem John, who was represented by Dr. Etop Antia, Director of Public Health, commended all the partners for making the project a success.
In the same vein, the executive secretary Akwa Ibom State Primary Health Care Development Agency (AIHDA), Dr. Eno Attah, appreciated the Federal Ministry of Health for considering Akwa Ibom State as one of the states for the pilot project.
