Infant life expectancy: A’Ibom treats 36,000 children with Azithromycin drug

Etim Ekpimah

The Akwa Ibom State Government through its pilot programme at Ikono Local Government Area, under SARMAAN Project, have successfully treated over 36,000 children with azithromycin drugs to enhance their life expectancy.

It was learnt that SARMAAN (Safety and Anti-microbial Resistance of Mass Administration of Azithromycin) was initiated to complement ongoing child survival interventions in low-and middle-income countries, with a focus on reducing early childhood deaths in regions where infant and under-five mortality rates exceed 60 to 80 deaths per 1,000 live births.

They have also engaged caregivers to demonstrate the usefulness of the drugs in the state.

The Project Coordinator, Dr Teyil Wamiyel-Mshella, said this in Uyo while fielding questions from newsmen during the close-out ceremony of the safety and anti-microbial resistance of mass administration of azithromycin to children aged 1-11 months in Ikono LGA on Friday.

Wamiyel-Mshella, who coordinates the project for Sightsavers, an international non-governmental 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.

“Sarmaan project is a very good project that was introduced in Nigeria in 2020 with field work, and so far, it has 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 azithromycin and alongside, we will be monitoring the safety of the medicine and also the antimicrobial 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 to children’s deaths between 0 to 05 years. So, this drug was used mainly to show the effects of it on child survival, which is why we were monitoring the safety of the medicine and its antimicrobial 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.

She expressed satisfaction with the level of acceptability of the project in the LGA, and called on the state government to key into it to bridge the infant mortality gap in the state.

In his remarks, the Commissioner for Health, Dr Ekem John, who was represented by Dr Etop Antia, Director of Public Health, Ministry of Health, commended all the partners for making the project a success.

He said, “I want to recognise the good people of Ikono LGA, the Chairman, the Paramount Ruler, who allowed this activity to succeed. The SARMAAN project was expected to complement ongoing child survival interventions in low and middle-income countries.

“The mass drug administration of azithromycin drugs, whose life-saving potential was highlighted in the model trial, demonstrated instability in lower early childhood mortality when administered biannually to infants.

“In Akwa Ibom State, the intervention was implemented using the Routine immunisation programme. Infants aged one to eleven months received azithromycin every six months for 2 years (2022 to 2024)

“The implementation was made possible through the collaborative partnership led by the Department of Family Health, the Federal Ministry of Health, funded by the Gates Foundation, while Sightsavers spearheaded the implementation.”

Also speaking at the occasion, Dr (Mrs) Eno Attah, Executive Secretary, Akwa Ibom State Primary Health Care Development Agency, appreciated the Federal Ministry of Health for considering Akwa Ibom State as one of the states for the pilot project.

Attah, who was represented by Mrs Margaret Etim, Director of Health Education and Promotion, lauded the initiative and the focus of the project on children, emphasizing that children are very vulnerable when it comes to disease infection, as they are unable to detect where exactly they feel.

A stakeholder in Ikono Community, Hon Emem Joseph Uwah, who spoke with our correspondent also  expressed happiness about the project and the commitment of the officials towards it success in the Council.

“They did their work diligently; they went through creeks; we have riverine areas but they were never scared and our children will feel the healthiness in them. We have seen improvement in this drug and I want to thank WHO, the federal and the state government for choosing our Local Government for the pilot scheme for which we are the first beneficiary,” Uwah said.