The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) says it has taken steps to reduce child mortality through malaria by providing about one million malaria preventive drugs for children under the age of five.

The mandate secretary, FCT health services and environment secretariat, Dr Adedolapo Fasawe, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja, during a presentation of hospital commodities to hospitals under FCTA.

The mandate secretary also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NISA Premier Medical Group, managers of Garki Hospital, Abuja.

According to Ms Fasawe, statistics show that 10 children die of malaria every second in Africa, which is why the administration decided on preventive approach to the disease.

She said that FCT minister, Nyesom Wike, was committed to addressing the healthcare challenges of residents with the various steps being taken to ensure quality and affordable healthcare, particularly for vulnerable groups.

“This initiative is particularly focused on making healthcare more affordable, especially for those registered under the FCT Health Insurance Scheme (FHIS), who will receive malaria medication free of charge.

“FCT was among the first states to contribute counterpart funding to the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) grant under the IMPACT Project, enabling the FCT to access the anti-malaria medication.”

According to her, FCTA has already paid 100,000 dollars counterpart funding, which has led to the unlocking of an additional N900 million from IDB.

This funding, she said, was intended to ensure that no patient pays for malaria treatment.

Ms Fasawe said that in addition to the one million doses of malaria preventive drugs, the project was also supporting human resources to support hospital staffing and community health advocacy efforts.

She, however, said that mothers have a huge role to play in ensuring that their children get the medication.

She said that health workers would be going round all parts of the territory to distribute the medication to children under the age of five, advising they should not be rejected but used as directed.

Ms Fasawe, however, said that adults or pregnant women should not take the medication.

Regarding the MoU with NISA Premier Group, she said that the public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement covers another 15 years for the group to manage the hospital.

She said that the MoU was aimed at making comprehensive healthcare services more accessible to residents.

She said the agreement, though renewable, could be terminated by either party with a 90-day notice if expectations were not met.

“This flexibility ensures that both the government and the private sector are held accountable and can maintain the highest standards in healthcare delivery,” she said.

Ms Fasawe said that transparency, accountability, and continuous monitoring and evaluation in the partnership were important to ensure that both the government and the private sector were held accountable and could maintain the highest standards in healthcare delivery.

She, however, urged the private sector to take the initiative to partner with the FCT in managing other health facilities as government alone cannot meet the increasing healthcare demands of the growing population.

Speaking about the items distributed to the FCT hospitals, Ms Fasawe said that the administration was introducing new policies to enhance healthcare quality and stricter hygiene protocols to prevent the spread of infections.

“For instance, certain healthcare workers in our hospitals will not be found in mufti.

“They will now be required to wear sterile, disposable gowns instead of their personal clothing, a move aimed at reducing the risk of hospital-acquired infections.”

Additionally, she said the government had signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the management of NISA Medical Group to extend their Public-Private Partnership (PPP) for the continued management of Garki Hospital, Abuja.

The chief executive officer (CEO), NISA Premier, Dr Ibrahim Wada, assured FCT residents of strict adherence to the terms of the agreement of the MoU to enhance the territory’s healthcare service delivery.

Mr Wada also confirmed that the legal dispute over the previous MoU had been settled out of court.

Medical commodities presented to the Medical Directors of the FCT hospitals include surgical reinforcement gowns and Personnel Protective Equipment (PPE) to eliminate doctor-to-patient infection transmission.

Others are Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation (MMS) for pregnant women and preventive malaria combination medicines for children under five.

(NAN)