Newly appointed Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of
Health, Dr. Amina Shamaki, has disclosed that no fewer than 400,000 young
Nigerians under the age of five die yearly of diarrheal, pneumonia and other
related diseases.
Shamaki, who was represented by the Director, Family
Planning Health of the ministry, Dr. Wapada Balami, MNI, while speaking on
Tuesday, in Abuja at the National Dialogue on Amoxicillin DT and Zinc/ Lo-ORS,
an event that coincides with this year’s World Pneumonia Day noted that
pneumonia and diarrheal diseases remain major killers of young children in
Nigeria that must be adequately addressed.
Federal Ministry of Health in collaboration with the
Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, PSN, and Partnership for Advocacy in Child
and Family Health PACfaH clarified that the huge number recorded for the
diseases drove the meeting that would focus more on the treatment of childhood
killer diseases.
She disclosed that the project was also designed to address
four critical areas such as treatment of childhood Diseases-Pneumonia and
Diarrheal, routine immunisation, nutrition and family planning would go a long
way in strengthening the health system in the country.
According to her, the essence of the dialogue was to chart a
course to put an end to the diseases in the country.
He said: “We are gathered here today -the World Pneumonia
Day – to focus on the treatment of childhood killer diseases -Pneumonia and
Diarrheal which are leading killers of children under the age of five years.
“In 2013, about 1.5 million children died globally and
about 400,000 Diarrheal 201,368 and Pneumonia 177,212 in Nigeria from these
preventable diseases.”
She added that: “Another issue to deliberate on during the
dialogue is the need to scale up the use of Zinc and L-ORC tablet as the first
line drug for the management and treatment of childhood Diarrheal disease.
“I believe that this array of participants will create good
opportunity for the various stakeholders to deliberate on the prospect,
challenges and strategies required to bring Nigeria in alignment with the
current joint guidelines of the World Health Organisation, UNICEF,
recommending Amoxicillin as the first line treatment for childhood Pneumonia.”
Speaking at the occasion, the Project Director for PACFfaH,
Dr. Mohammed M. Saleh explained that in any disease or sickness, quick
interventions are very paramount for long lasting solution.
Dr. Saleh urged the government to encourage the domestication and increased production, distribution and appropriate promotion of commodities by local healthcare providers and private sector actors by enacting friendly policies that would ensure the targeted communities have access to the life-saving product.
He called on government to endorse the usage of recommended
tablet, Amoxicillin DT and Zinc/Lo-ORS, with a universal coverage to assist in
reducing morbidity and mortality of children under age 5 in Nigeria.
Source: National Mirror Newspaper
