Health
Stakeholders urge FG to sustain SARMAAN child survival programme after donor exit
Stakeholders in child health, research and public policy have urged the Federal Government to sustain and institutionalise the Safety and Antimicrobial Resistance of Mass Administration of Azithromycin Among Children project to ensure its gains in reducing preventable childhood illnesses and deaths are not lost after donor funding ends.
They said the SARMAAN programme has evolved beyond a standalone intervention and should be integrated into Nigeria’s health system as a national child survival strategy, stating that it has reached over 16 million children across 11 northern states.
They further called for stronger policy integration, increased domestic financing, incorporation into national and state health plans, and greater government ownership to sustain the programme’s impact on under-five survival.
The call was made in a statement issued to commemorate the 2026 Day of the African Child, observed annually on June 16, to promote the rights, health and wellbeing of children across the continent.
The statement noted that the SARMAAN Project has emerged as one of Nigeria’s most significant child survival initiatives by generating evidence on the safe administration of azithromycin while supporting efforts to reduce preventable illnesses and deaths among children under five years of age.
The Project Lead of the SARMAAN Advocacy Project Team, Ikechukwu Ofuani, said the intervention had demonstrated how evidence-based programmes could significantly reduce preventable childhood illnesses and deaths.
Drawing from engagements with policymakers, health institutions, development partners and community stakeholders across the country, Ofuani said the project had grown beyond a standalone programme.
“The SARMAAN Project has demonstrated how evidence-based interventions can significantly contribute to reducing preventable childhood illnesses and deaths among children under five years of age,” he stated.
He added that institutionalising the programme would protect the gains already recorded while creating opportunities to expand its impact across the country.
He further stated that government and institutional ownership must define the next phase of the intervention to ensure its successes are sustained beyond donor support.
Also speaking, Principal at the Solina Centre for International Development and Research, Demilade Osoteku – Scidar, described SARMAAN as a practical, scalable and high-impact pathway for improving child survival outcomes, particularly in underserved and hard-to-reach communities.
Oseteku said the intervention extends beyond medicine administration to strengthening critical health system components, including microplanning, supply chain coordination, community engagement, implementation monitoring, data-driven decision-making and accountability mechanisms.
The SCIDaR boss noted that at a time when Nigeria continues to record preventable child deaths from malaria and other childhood illnesses, the programme provides a tested platform capable of addressing persistent equity gaps and reaching vulnerable children with life-saving interventions.
Highlighting the project’s impact at the state level, Director of Public Health in Jigawa State, Dr Abubakar Kanya, described SARMAAN as a proven child survival intervention that has demonstrated effectiveness and strong community ownership.
Kanya disclosed that Jigawa State had completed three rounds of Mass Drug Administration under the programme and consistently achieved its target coverage of 90 per cent.
He added that caregivers across participating communities had provided positive feedback on the intervention, reflecting strong community acceptance.
Similarly, the Executive Secretary of the Gombe State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr Abdulrahman Shuaibu, said the experience of implementing SARMAAN in the state had shown why the intervention deserves long-term institutional support and integration into Nigeria’s child survival agenda.
He noted that one of the strongest indicators of the programme’s success was the remarkable level of acceptance recorded across participating communities, with no reported resistance throughout implementation.
He added that such receptiveness was significant because public health interventions often encounter varying degrees of community hesitation and resistance.
The stakeholders also highlighted the value of collaboration among researchers, policymakers, health workers, traditional institutions, development partners and communities in advancing child health priorities.
They maintained that sustaining the momentum created by SARMAAN aligns with Nigeria’s broader commitments to reducing child mortality, strengthening primary healthcare systems and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals related to child health and wellbeing.
The statement stressed that child survival remains a shared responsibility requiring commitment from governments at all levels, development partners, healthcare providers, community leaders, caregivers and the private sector.
It urged policymakers and development partners to seize the opportunity presented by the project’s achievements by ensuring that child survival remains central to public health planning, investment and policy decisions in Nigeria.
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