SARMAAN: Health Workers Lead New Push To Cut Child Deaths

Health workers across northern Nigeria are emerging as quiet heroes in a nationwide push to save young children’s lives through the SARMAAN II project, a mass drug administration campaign targeting under‑five mortality with azithromycin. The project is led by the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health and partners […]

Health workers across northern Nigeria are emerging as quiet heroes in a nationwide push to save young children’s lives through the SARMAAN II project, a mass drug administration campaign targeting under‑five mortality with azithromycin.

The project is led by the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health and partners such as Sightsavers, Malaria Consortium, AFENET, MITOSATH, eHA and SCIDaR.

Behind the acronym SARMAAN, the Safety and Antimicrobial Resistance of Mass Administration of Azithromycin in Nigeria programme, is a diverse workforce that keeps the intervention running, from high‑level researchers to grassroots medicine distributors.

Many are local volunteers trained to give out drugs, collect health data and samples, manage digital systems and oversee logistics, all united by a shared commitment to end preventable child deaths.

For Haruna Adamu, who first served as an enumerator in SARMAAN I and now works as a data collector in SARMAAN II, the project is a personal mission. He joined after hearing about it from his community leader and says the emphasis on prevention, early intervention and community engagement matches his values and his desire “to make a direct impact” in his community.

That sense of purpose is echoed by Frederick Linus, a data collector in Dutse Local Government Area of Jigawa State, who learnt about SARMAAN through his Head of Department at the Federal University Dutse.

He says the project offered a rare chance to reach “the underserved in the community” and described visiting Sakwaya, a village off the Dutse–Kano road he never knew existed, where residents felt “forgotten” but were overjoyed to see the team.

Beyond the medicine in their bags, health workers say the work is really about building trust with caregivers and confronting misinformation. Adamu recalls how, once parents clearly understood the purpose of the intervention, they brought their children forward willingly, and initial hesitation gave way to strong support.

He wishes more Nigerians knew SARMAAN is “not just a short‑term campaign but a life‑saving intervention” that strengthens community health awareness and brings care to children who might otherwise be missed.

As SARMAAN II continues, health workers fan out across hard‑to‑reach communities with clipboards, phones and drug boxes, powered by a belief that every child deserves a chance to live a healthy life. Their daily, often unseen labour is fast becoming one of the most important weapons in Nigeria’s fight against child mortality.

The second phase is being executed in 11 states in Northern Nigeria including Kaduna, Bauchi, Kebbi, Katsina, Kano, Sokoto, Jigawa, Adamawa, Yobe, Gombe and Zamfara.