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Borno State has emerged as the overall best in the implementation of Immunisation Plus and Malaria Progress by Accelerating Coverage and Transforming Services (IMPACT), surpassing other participating states across the country. IMPACT is a World Bank-supported community-driven project aimed at reducing by half the mortality of children under five by 2030, through strengthening the primary healthcare centres. The project delivers integrated immunisation-plus and malaria services to vulnerable populations across 235 primary and secondary healthcare facilities across the state. Receiving the award at the Government House in Maiduguri over the weekend, Borno State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, commended the efforts of the Ministry of Health for achieving the milestone. Zulum reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to continuing its investment in the health sector to improve the well-being of the people of the state. He said, “I would like to commend the Health Commissioner, the Permanent Secretary, the IMPACT project coordinator, and the rest of the team for their efforts in achieving this feat of becoming the best-performing state. “On behalf of the government and people of the state, I extend our sincere gratitude. “Healthcare is one of the priorities of this administration; therefore, I would like to assure you that more investment will be made in the entire value-chain of the health sector to ensure a quality and affordable healthcare delivery system for people of the state.” While presenting the award to the Governor, Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Prof. Baba Malum Gana, said that the State achieved the feat owing to the high performance in the implementation of the project in a holistic and coordinated approach, deployment of digital monitoring tools, as well as data quality. He remarked that more than two million anti-malaria drugs, two million test kits and other essential consumables have been distributed in the last year. “In the last one year, more than 2 million anti-malaria, 359,596 long-lasting insecticide-treated nets and 2 million test kits and other essential non-malaria drugs and medical consumables have been distributed across 235 health facilities across the state,” Malum Gana said. The Commissioner emphasised that despite the security challenges and the 2024 flood disaster, the state was able to achieve immunisation coverage in vulnerable areas. ALSO READ TOP STORIES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
