Muhammad Garba
An international donor organization (Save the Children) in collaboration with giant pharmaceutical company Glaxo Smith Kline (GSK) has trained media men from Jigawa, state Lagos state and Federal Capital Abuja on Pneumonia and other Infectious Child Killer Diseases reporting.
Speaking at the opening sessions of two days engagement, the Chief of Party of the Integrated Sustainable Childhood Pneumonia and Infectious Diseases Reduction (INSPIRING) Project, Dr. Isah Adamu said, the training was organized to build the capacity of media partners for the success of the campaign against pneumonia.
He said, media has a major role to play in transforming public understanding and altitude about Pneumonia, how to access available public healthcare services, monitoring and evaluating reports to promote accountability.
Dr. Isah said, the campaign against pneumonia intervention which is first of its kind in Nigeria is operating in two state Lagos and Jigawa.
From 2018 to date, the organization has trained hundreds of community volunteers, health workers and other key stakeholders on pneumonia infection, prevention and control.
“Beside the training we also provide some intervention such as donation of clinical Oxygen, Covid-19 Protection Equipment and other related equipment to Health facilities in the two state.
“For years, pneumonia has been killing children without it being listing among major child killer diseases, to bring out the endemic scourge of the disease, we choose Lagos being a metropolitan state and Jigawa as a rural state for our pilot intervention, and it shows that the problem can be addressed in all states of the federation.
“The project is all inclusive, we are using the existing national policy on pneumonia and oxygen, and community members for our campaign.
Today, hundreds of women and husband as well as school children under our pilot states are very much aware about the symptoms of pneumonia, this is a mile stone towards reducing the menace of the disease to barest minimal level in Nigeria.”
On his part, the representative of GlaxoSmithKline, Dr. Abbas Sanni expressed appreciation on the cooperation and support they are receiving from state governments, media, health workers and communities in the noble campaign against pneumonia.
Dr. Sanni reaffirmed his organization’s commitment to save lives and children in particular, “base on this reason we will continue to give our contribution to government and non-governmental organizations to achieve the desired goal,” he declared.
