Health
Congress: Nigeria’s SARMAAN Highlights Power Of Child Survival Interventions
By Lilian Okoro
As public health leaders, policymakers, researchers, and advocates prepare to gather in Cape Town for the 18th World Congress on Public Health from Sept. 6 to Sept 9, 2026, a groundbreaking child-survival intervention in Africa speaks directly to the global conversation around equity, inclusion, and sustainability.
Across 11 participating states in northern Nigeria, the Safety and Antimicrobial Resistance of Mass Administration of Azithromycin in Children 1–59 Months in Nigeria (SARMAAN) programme has reached more than 16 million children.
This achievement demonstrates what becomes possible when rigorous evidence, government leadership, deep community engagement, frontline delivery, and safety monitoring align around a shared child-survival goal, according to a statement by the project, on Thursday.
This landmark milestone arrives as Nigeria’s health indicators reflect steady progress: under-five mortality has fallen from 132 to 102 deaths per 1,000 live births between the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) and the 2023–24 NDHS.
Key drivers include increased immunisation coverage, exclusive breastfeeding, antenatal care attendance, skilled birth attendance, and prompt treatment-seeking for childhood illnesses.
Nevertheless, at 102 deaths per 1,000 live births, Nigeria remains four times above the Sustainable Development Goal target of 25 per 1,000, underscoring why scalable models like SARMAAN are drawing international attention ahead of the Congress.
Reaching millions of children is a monumental feat. However, doing so while maintaining real-time safety monitoring, data collection, supervision, and scientific evaluation offers a profound contribution to global public health practice.
For Prof. Oliver Ezechi, Lead Investigator of SARMAAN and Director of Research at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), this integration of execution and evidence defines the project’s success:
“What the data from SARMAAN shows is that safety monitoring and antimicrobial resistance surveillance can be built directly into a mass drug administration project at scale, not layered on afterward.
“The experience demonstrates that rigorous science and large-scale delivery do not have to compete; they can strengthen one another.”
The project’s success hinges on meeting children directly where they live, backed by community trust.
Also, Dr Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu, Pediatrician, global health leader, and SARMAAN Champion emphasised that each child’s health outcome depends on the strength of supporting systems:
“Reaching children at this scale requires health workers, caregivers, communities and government systems to work together. True equity is when an intervention can reach all children, regardless of where they live.”
SARMAAN’s multi-round strategy reinforces a vital principle: communities are active partners, not passive recipients.
In Jigawa State, First Lady and SARMAAN Champion, Her Excellency Hadiza Umar Namadi, reflected on the bond.
“The numbers are important, but behind them are mothers, caregivers and communities who have opened their doors and placed their trust in the people delivering this intervention.
“Sustaining that trust requires continuous engagement, respect for communities and strong government leadership. That is how public-health programmes become part of the communities they are designed to serve.”
From personnel training to pharmacovigilance, SARMAAN proves that scale and safety must advance together.
Pediatrician and SARMAAN Champion Professor Robinson Daniel Wammanda also commented.
“What is important about the SARMAAN experience is the use of multiple platforms to successfully reach these children at this scale.”
State-level discussions now focus on transitioning SARMAAN’s lessons into permanent institutional planning, integration, and sustainable financing.
As SARMAAN looks ahead, it offers a lasting blueprint: health interventions must build systems, trust, and partnerships that secure long-term child survival rather than leaving health to chance.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the SARMAAN Project, part of the regional REACH (Resiliency through Azithromycin in Children) Network, is an evidence-based child survival initiative designed to fast-track efforts to reduce under-five mortality in high-burden Nigerian states through government-led Mass Drug Administration of azithromycin. (NAN)www.nannews.ng