SCI, GSK upgrade 27 PHCs, 2 General Hospitals in Ikorodu with N50m medical equipment, consumables

Deputy Director, Programme Operations, SCI Nigeria, Ms. Nwamaka Ifionu (2nd from right) officially presenting the donated items to the representative of the Lagos State Ministry of Health, Mrs Deborah Afolabi (left) and some officials of the beneficiary health facilities in Ikorodu. Looking on (3rd from left) is the Chief of Party, INSPIRING Project, Dr Isa Adamu.

   

By Sola Charles

 Towards the reduction of deaths from childhood pneumonia and other preventable infectious diseases in Ikorodu Local Government Area, in Lagos State, Save The Children International, SCI, Nigeria, with support from GlaxoSmithKline recently donated hospital equipment, medical consumables, and other essential materials with an estimated value of N50 million to 27 primary health care facilities and two General Hospitals in the LGA.

The items which were donated through the INSPIRING project, a partnership between SCI and GSK, included medical equipment such as incubators, infrared thermometers, pulse oximeters, and Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), among others. Infection prevention control supplies, such as hand sanitizers, gloves, and face masks were also donated to the health care facilities.

At the presentation ceremony, the SCI Deputy Director, Programme Operations, Ms. Nwamaka Ifionu, described the presentation of the items as a part of the cardinal intervention of SCI and its partners toward scaling up childhood services at health facilities in Ikorodu and its environs with focus on prevention of pneumonia.

Ifionu who spoke on behalf of the SCI Country Director stated: “When we thought of what we could do in the states that we have been commissioned and Lagos is one of those states, we decided to find out what their needs were and where we would make the most impact with the resources that we have from our esteemed donor, GSK.

Deputy Director, Programme Operations, SCI Nigeria, Ms. Nwamaka Ifionu who represented the Country Director, Mr. Famaro Barro at the presentation 

“Working with the Lagos State Ministry of Health through the Primary Healthcare Board, we decided on Ikorodu LGA which we have decided to really support and saturate with these services. Essentially we are looking into working with the LGA to support the integrated and sustainable reduction of childhood illnesses in the LGA, and we are doing it through a number of efforts that support capacity strengthening at the health capacity level.”

She said SCI and its partners have consistently supported the training of health workers, immunization services, and efforts to improve the number of resources, equipment, and tools that the health workers have at their disposal to do the work that they do and do it well.

“We are donating all these infection prevention and control items as well as medical materials to support that effort as well in continuing the primary focus and the work that we have done includes training as well as providing equipment towards the attainment of the goal. We want to make sure that Ikorodu LGA and its health facilities are equipped with medical products to save lives when needed.  

Further, Ifionu explained that the intervention by SCI and its partners in Ikorodu was essential for curbing incidences of misdiagnosis of childhood pneumonia and ensuring drastic improvement in the ability to diagnose pneumonia by the health workers.

“The intervention is to ensure that community, caregivers, and health workers are well aware of the signs and symptoms of pneumonia. It has also meant that children who come in with symptoms of pneumonia are able to get the required and appropriate treatment in a timely manner, and the facilities have the right equipment including oxygen to administer the treatment and ensure that unlike before they are not dying of preventable illnesses like pneumonia.

Chief of Party, Inspiring Project, SCI, Dr. Isa Adamu during the official presentation of the donated items 

Also speaking, Dr. Isa Adamu, a public health physician, and the Chief of Party, Inspiring Project, said the whole initiative was about improving child health, especially pneumonia in Ikorodu LGA.

He remarked: “This is the 4th time we are making this donation. The fulcrum of the intervention is related to the approach that we take in Ikorodu, which is a pilot out of all the LGAs in Lagos. The overall objective is that we want to give everything that Ikorodu requires to reduce death among children under the age of 5. 

"We want to make a difference to lead to the reduction of death in pneumonia. We want to pilot every scheme that we know and every strategy that works with the 27 primary health centres and another two General hospitals in Ikorodu LGA.

“The original idea was to do a pilot and find that is there is a way that we can improve child health in the LGA, especially pneumonia, we saturate it with all that it needs, and after five years we do an evaluation whether it has reduced the number of deaths among children after these number of years and after this intervention. 

"If the answer is yes, we see improvement; it means the approaches have worked. It means we can go back to I and say if we get an opportunity we can cover the whole of Lagos state,” he asserted.

Adamu said there will be an endline survey in early 2023 after two solid years of intervention in Ikorodu to show to the donor, SCI, and other child health communities to say that as a result of the intervention, the mortality rate of pneumonia has been reduced by a specific margin.