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Global Fund supported Health facilities in Delta state that were under lock and key have been reopened and ready with free ACT Malaria drugs to treat patrons who may visit the health facilities.
This, according to the state coordinator, Civil Society for Malaria Control, Immunization and Nutrition, ACOMIN, Pastor Greg Sifor, was made possible by Accountability, advocacy and regular engagement at the Focal Group Discussion (FGD) by the collaborating effort of the engaged Community Based Organizations, (CBO) working under the ACOMIN, in the five selected Local Government Area in Delta state.
The state coordinator, in his welcome speech that was delivered by the state program officer, Itua Osasumhen, during a Media brief on Global Fund Malaria Accountability and Advocacy Project, held at the conference hall, Delta state Primary Health Care Agency,Asaba, said the purpose of the advocacy focus media event is to introduce the Global Fund objectives in the state to the communities at large.
“The purpose of this meeting is to introduce the Global Fund objectives to the state, media and the community at large,” ACOMIN state coordinator said.
“To develop working relationship amicably with media organisations and personalities, to introduced the accountability and advocacy component of the Project to the media and communities, and to advocate to the State and Local Government for increase funding to Malaria.”
“Since we started our state level start-up meeting two weeks ago,the engaged community base organisations started working withing the five pilot Local Government, and its been very fruitful events within the short period. We have been able to get up to about fourty issues both from the aspect of Accountability for commodity utilization at the community level. People have started going to health facilities to access Malaria services”
“We have also seen cases of shortage of staffers in some health facilities. One of the health facility is even under lock and key, and engagement advocacy had also been done by some of this community based organizations, as I speak to you facility is now open”
While delivering his speech, the State program officer, Itua Osasumhen, said Malaria illness occurs all through the year, and affects everybody in Nigeria, adding that children under five years and pregnant women are mostly at risk of 97%. He further said that Malaria is treatable, preventable, curable, and with concerted effort, no child, pregnant woman, or adult should be allowed to die of Malaria ever again.
Itua highlighted the key project activities of the community base organizations that are presently engage by ACOMIN; according to him, “they are to form Community Accountability Team (CAT), identify and create linkages with health facilities in selected Local Government to facilitate effective work relationships, conduct client exit interviews periodically at the health facilities, conduct Focus Group Discussion at selected communities, Conduct key informant interview to solicit relevant information from stakeholder, Conduct advocacy at the facilities to resolve issues, Document identified issues at the health facilities and provide immediate feedback on How to resolve issues, and to ensure project sustainability and impact through involvement of relevant community actors.”
Speaking with newsmen, Austin Uwede from Askme Multiconcept, and Onose Martha, from Community Empowerment & Development Initiatives, who are members of some of the engaged Community Base Organizations, narrate some of their experiences at the field. According to Austin Uwede “our findings are quite interesting and challenging, in places we visited, the waiting time are unusually long, and is as a result of inadequate staffers in the health facilities to render services, so the people wait longer than necessary. The issue of staff must be addressed because if you have the facilities, drugs, and commodities, and there are no enough staffers to man the place it still doesn’t have any effect.”
On her part, Onose Martha, said the advocacy at Okpe Local Government is yielding positive results.
“Some of the people we met at the communities told us that they thought the Primary Health Care facilities are met for pregnant women alone, but thank God for this intervention, in one of the Focal Group Discussion that we had, we were able to tell them that its not true, that when you are sick of Malaria, you get tested free of charge, with free drugs.”
The South Daily earlier reported that ACOMIN, Delta state chapter, held an advocacy meeting with key stakeholders and traditional rulers in five selected local government councils in Delta state, to seek their respective support in the fight to eliminate malaria in Nigeria.
In that meeting that took place at Okpe Local Government Council, and other four Local Government council,the state program officer, Itua Osasumhen, said the Global fund for ATM is currently running a grant for malaria, which started in 2018 and will be rounding up by 2020. He also said in that meeting that the grant is being implemented through a consortium that is led by the Catholic Relief Services, and ACOMIN has been engaged to implement the Civil Society Organizations and Community component, and further coordinate efforts of community based organizations on oversight,advocacy, and accountability at the community, Local Government Area, and state level.
