The Kano State Government has approved the immediate suspension of all Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) programme activities across the state.
This is contained in a statement issued by the Public Relations Officer of the State Ministry of Health, Nabilusi Abubakar, on Thursday in Kano.
He said the decision was part of efforts to ensure transparency, accountability and integrity in the implementation of the life-saving intervention.
“The suspension takes immediate effect and is intended to facilitate a thorough investigation into programme operations, documentation, personnel records and all related implementation activities.
“All ongoing field operations, distributions and community engagement activities under the SMC programme have been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation.
“The Programme Manager has also been suspended with immediate effect, while programme responsibilities have been temporarily transferred to the most senior officer within the programme to ensure proper coordination during the review period,” he said.
Abubakar further stated that the government has constituted a high-level investigative committee mandated to conduct a comprehensive review of the planning, distribution and implementation processes of the SMC programme in Kano State.
The PRO said the committee is chaired by the Director-General of the State AIDS Control Agency (SACA), Dr Usman Bashir. Other members include Prof. Salisu Ahmad of the State Primary Healthcare Management Board (SPHCMB); the Director-General of the Drugs and Medical Consumables Supply Agency (DMCSA), Ghali Sule; Dr Mansur Nagoda, Executive Secretary of the Hospitals Management Board (HMB); Prof. Muhammad Abbas, Director-General of the Kano Centre for Disease Control (KNCDC); and Dr Fatima Zahradden, Executive Secretary of the Kano Health Trust Fund (KHETFUND).
Dr Rahila Mukhtar, Executive Secretary of the Kano State Contributory Healthcare Management Agency (KSCHMA), will also serve as a member, while Nazeer Tanko-Kyaure, Director of Administration and General Services (DAGS) in the ministry, will serve as Secretary.
