Stakeholders call for ownership of SARMAAN project to boost child survival in Nigeria
Key stakeholders in Nigeria’s health sector have emphasized the need for stronger national ownership and coordination of the Safety and Antimicrobial Resistance of Mass Administration of Azithromycin Among Children aged 1–59 months (SARMAAN) project as part of efforts to accelerate child survival interventions across the country.
The call was made in Abuja during a high-level stakeholder roundtable convened following recommendations from the National Child Health Technical Working Group and the Director of the Family Health Department at the Federal Ministry of Health. The meeting brought together government officials, health experts, and development partners to review the progress of the initiative and strengthen collaboration around its implementation.
Participants at the meeting stressed the importance of collective commitment to the SARMAAN II project, noting that enhanced national leadership and coordination would be critical to ensuring the programme contributes effectively to reducing under-five mortality in Nigeria.
The roundtable aimed to strengthen institutional alignment, clarify governance structures, and advance Nigeria’s pathway toward integrating the SARMAAN II intervention into national child survival policies.
Co-chair of the SARMAAN II Steering Committee and Director of the Family Health Department, Dr. John Ovuoraye, stressed that safeguarding the lives of Nigerian children must remain a top national priority.
He described survival as the most fundamental right of every Nigerian child and called for stronger collaboration among stakeholders to ensure the successful integration of SARMAAN II into Nigeria’s Child Survival Action Plan.
According to him, discussions around the project must remain outcome-driven and aligned with existing government coordination frameworks. He also highlighted the need to review elements of the project’s governance structure to ensure inclusive engagement and reinforce institutional ownership among national stakeholders.
Dr. Ovuoraye further noted that research findings alone are not sufficient to drive policy change without strong collaboration among government institutions, partners, and technical teams.
“Research alone cannot translate into policy. Partners and technical teams must work together, and everyone in this room must ensure the programme succeeds for the country,” he said.
Stakeholders at the meeting also agreed that Nigeria must increasingly lead the narrative and drive informed government decision-making on child survival interventions.
The SARMAAN II project represents Nigeria’s contribution to the regional Resiliency through Azithromycin for Children (REACH) Network, an African-led initiative designed to generate strong national evidence on the effectiveness of Azithromycin Mass Drug Administration (MDA) in reducing under-five mortality while monitoring antimicrobial resistance and ensuring drug safety.
Professor Oliver Ezechi, Principal Investigator of the SARMAAN project at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, said the initiative is part of a broader African collaboration involving Ministries of Health and international partners focused on reducing child mortality in high-burden settings through evidence-based interventions.
Providing a progress update on the project, Senior Project Manager at Solina, Ijeoma Mmirikwe, disclosed that more than 13 million unique children had been reached between 2024 and 2026.
She explained that nineteen rounds of mass drug administration have been successfully conducted across ten states including Adamawa, Gombe, Yobe, Bauchi, Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa, Katsina, Kebbi and Sokoto.
Mmirikwe added that over 5.7 million bottles of Azithromycin had been distributed during the implementation period and that no serious adverse effects had been reported so far.
Also speaking, the Project Lead of the SARMAAN Advocacy Project Team, Ikechukwu Ofuani, introduced the advocacy consortium supporting policy integration, communications, and knowledge management for the programme.
Ofuani said the consortium’s work focuses on strengthening government ownership of the intervention, integrating SARMAAN into Nigeria’s Child Survival Action Plan, securing sustainable domestic financing, and expanding public awareness and policy engagement.
The advocacy consortium is led by Policy Vault Africa, with communications support from Saldrey Communications Limited and Big Cabal Media.
The SARMAAN programme builds on evidence from Niger, Tanzania and Malawi, where similar Azithromycin interventions recorded up to a 13.8 percent reduction in child mortality.
Nigeria’s implementation, stakeholders said, adapts the approach to local realities while generating country-specific evidence and strengthening state and community ownership of child survival programmes.
