By Chioma Obinna

Key health sector stakeholders have renewed calls for stronger national ownership and coordination of the Safety and Antimicrobial Resistance of Mass Administration of Azithromycin Among Children 1–59 Months, SARMAAN, project, as Nigeria intensifies efforts to reduce child mortality.
The call was made at a high-level stakeholder roundtable convened in line with recommendations from the National Child Health Technical Working Group, NCH TWG, and the Director of the Family Health Department at the Federal Ministry of Health. The meeting focused on strengthening institutional alignment, clarifying governance structures, and advancing Nigeria’s pathway toward integrating the SARMAAN II intervention into national child survival policies.
Chair of the SARMAAN II Steering Committee and Director/Head of the Family Health Department, Dr. John Ovuoraye, underscored the urgency of prioritising child survival across the country.
“Survival is the most fundamental right of Nigerian children,” he said. “For the progressive inclusion of SARMAAN II into Nigeria’s Child Survival Action Plan, we must co-create and implement solutions together.”
He stressed that deliberations must go beyond dialogue to measurable outcomes, firmly rooted in existing government coordination systems. According to him, adjustments within SARMAAN’s governance framework are necessary to ensure inclusive participation and strengthen collective institutional ownership.
“Research alone cannot translate into policy. All partners and technical teams must work together, and everyone in this room must ensure we succeed as a country,” Ovuoraye added.
Participants at the roundtable reached a consensus that Nigeria must take the lead in shaping its child survival agenda, driving data-informed decision-making and reducing reliance on external direction.
The SARMAAN II project represents Nigeria’s contribution to the regional Resiliency through Azithromycin for Children (REACH) Network, an African-led initiative involving Ministries of Health and international partners. The programme is designed to generate robust national evidence on the effectiveness of Azithromycin Mass Drug Administration (MDA) in reducing under-five mortality, while closely monitoring antimicrobial resistance and ensuring patient safety.
Principal Investigator of the SARMAAN project, Prof. Oliver Ezechi of the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, said the initiative reflects Nigeria’s strategic role within the REACH Network.
He explained that the project focuses on deploying evidence-based Azithromycin MDA in high-mortality settings while simultaneously building data systems to guide policy decisions and long-term interventions.
Providing a progress update, Senior Project Manager at Solina, Ijeoma Mmirikwe, revealed that the programme has recorded significant milestones since implementation.
According to her, “Over 13 million unique children have been reached from 2024 to 2026. Nineteen rounds of Mass Drug Administration have been successfully carried out across Adamawa, Gombe, Yobe, Bauchi, Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa, Katsina, Kebbi, and Sokoto states.”
She added that more than 5.7 million bottles of Azithromycin have been distributed across the ten states, with no recorded cases of serious adverse events so far.
“This demonstrates both the scale and safety of the intervention,” Mmirikwe noted.
Also speaking, Project Lead of the SARMAAN Advocacy Project Team, Ikechukwu Ofuani, highlighted efforts to strengthen policy integration and public engagement around the initiative.
“The advocacy consortium is focused on ensuring government ownership of the intervention, integrating SARMAAN into Nigeria’s Child Survival Action Plan, securing sustainable domestic financing, and amplifying public awareness,” he said.
The consortium, led by Policy Vault Africa with communications support from Saldrey Communications Limited and Big Cabal Media, is expected to play a key role in bridging policy, funding, and public communication gaps.
The SARMAAN programme builds on international evidence from Niger, Tanzania, and Malawi, where similar Azithromycin interventions have achieved up to a 13.8 percent reduction in child mortality. Nigeria’s adaptation aims to replicate these gains while tailoring implementation to local realities and strengthening ownership at state and community levels.
Stakeholders at the meeting agreed that sustained collaboration, clear governance, and firm government leadership will be critical to translating SARMAAN II’s research outcomes into lasting national policy and improved survival rates for Nigerian children.