Equitable Health Access Initiative kick started implementation of the Optimised Pneumonia Prevention and Management (Opprem) Project On January 20th, 2022 with the High Level Advocacy meeting that held In Umuahia -Abia State .
Photo: Group pictures of attendees
Prominent attendees at the meeting includes: Abia state Commissioner for Health ; Dr. Joe Osuji, Abia state Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary; Deaconess Franca Ekweme,
Head, EHAI Prevention, Clinical and Quality Improvement and Project Director, OPPREM; Dr. Olatoun Adeola, Head, Strategic Knowledge Management and Training, Head, EHAI Human Resources and Administration; Mrs Uju Umeozulu and Abia State TB and Leprosy Control Officer; Dr. Okorie Onuka.
Photo: Abia state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Joe Osuji
Pneumonia is the world’s leading infectious killer of children, claiming the lives of more than 800,000 children under the age of five every year, more than 2,000 every day. It is a reflection of health inequities affecting the most deprived and marginalised children in low- and middle-income countries and represents a violation of the fundamental rights of children to survive and development. Pneumonia has been largely forgotten on global and national health agendas in several developing countries including Nigeria, this must be addressed to reduce child mortality. According to WHO (2020), Pneumonia has replaced Malaria as number one killer of under-five children causing about 100,000 deaths (19% of child deaths in 2018) in Nigeria.
Photo: Dr. Olatoun Adeola addressing attendees
Equitable Health Access Initiative has been awarded a Global Health Innovation Grant (GHIG) by The Pfizer Foundation to focus on optimizing protection, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of pneumonia through integration into the state health immunization program and community-based activities aimed at increasing knowledge and awareness of management of pneumonia for under-fives.
The Pfizer Foundation launched the GHIG program in 2016 with the aim of supporting social entrepreneurs in areas with inadequate access to essential health services, by accelerating locally driven innovations. Each year, the program provides funding to 20 organizations working to strengthen health systems at the community and primary care levels through projects focused on combating global health challenges, including infectious diseases.
In the last five years, The Pfizer Foundation has provided $11.5 million to support more than 30 partners across Asia, Africa and Latin America that have helped to treat 2.7 million patients, provide life-saving screening and education for 1.3 million patients, train more than 10,000 healthcare staff and open nearly 700 new health centers around the world.
Learn more about the GHIG program and the impact we are making together: https://bit.ly/3oQEArW
