SuNMaP2 inaugurates malaria tracking group in Kano

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Over the years, funds meant to combat malaria in Nigeria have not yield the desired results as the country still accounts for 25% of global malaria burden, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). In trying to change the current malaria narrative in Kano state, representatives of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and the media last weekend gathered for a two-day workshop on malaria accountability and tracking, culminating in the inauguration of a malaria tracking group for the state. 

The workshop which was hosted by the Kano State Malaria Elimination Programme, in collaboration with Support to the National Malaria Programme in Nigeria 2 (SuNMaP2), exposed members of the malaria tracking group to the National Strategic Health Development Plan (NSHDP) and tools necessary for tracking malaria budget as well as leveraging community scorecard to ascertain the impact of malaria services in the state.

While explaining a commodity tracking tool, Dr. Nura Haladu, consultant for the SuNMaP2 accountability group, said the tool would be used to monitor the mobility of commodities right from the warehouse down to healthcare facilities. “The tool will assist in tracking the amount of commodities supplied to the state, the number of commodities distributed in the state, whether or not it gets to the facilities, as well as the people’s view on service delivery.”

Hassan Gama, chair of the SuNMaP2 malaria tracking group, said the community score card which the group members were exposed to would help them ascertain, whether or not malaria services were being delivered as planned, instead of relying on the government only for such information. He said the group would directly engage with community members to ascertain the quality of services they were receiving as well as identify problems and subsequently make advocacies.

Similarly, Babangida Musa, the programme manager for the State Malaria Elimination Programme, said access to malaria commodity had remained a lingering issue which the state had been battling with for a long time. He however said the issue would soon come to an end as the Kano state government and the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP), under a Global Fund grant, were currently supporting 1226 health facilities across the 44 LGAs of the state with free malaria drugs and nets.