The Society for Family Health, in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Health, Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria, and Sokoto State Government, have inaugurated the IntegratE 2.0 project, to empower community pharmacists and Patent Proprietary Medicine Vendors (PPMVs) on the provision of improved family planning services.
The health institutions and the state government held an inception meeting organised by the Society for Family Health, at the Grand New Shukura Hotel in Sokoto, with the aim of accelerating the progress of IntegratE 1.0- a pilot study of the project.
In his speech, the Commissioner for Health, Sokoto State, Hon. Lema Abubakar Tambuwal, praised the Society for Family Health for putting the project into action in Sokoto.
“I am tasking all relevant stakeholders in the health sector to collectively contribute to the success and effective implementation of the integrated 2.0 Project,” he said.
The Royal Father of the day, Alh. Sani Umar Jabbi, and the representative of the Sultanate Council, Sarkin Yakin Gagi, spoke on the essence of the project for retail pharmacies in boosting access to improved family planning services in the communities.
They praised Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal and the Sokoto State Government for creating the favourable conditions that led to Sokoto being selected as a project beneficiary by the donors' organisation.
In the integrated 1.0 test project, the organisation taught 840 community pharmacists, 200 Tier (Non-Health PPMVs), and 2,690 Tier 2 and 3 Health-trained PPMVs.
Earlier on, Dr Sani Mustapha, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Health in Sokoto, appreciated all participants and noted the swift action taken in the regulation of patent proprietary medicine vendors in local areas.
He told the attendees that it was their duty as a group to help the project succeed.
Representatives of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), which is one of the project's funding partners, said that the Foundation will continue to support the health sector in Sokoto State. They also said that safe birth, maternal and child care are among the foundation's main areas of focus.
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