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, 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 said that the government 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, State AIDS Control Agency (SACA), Dr Usman Bashir, members included Prof. Salisu Ahmad, State Primary Healthcare Management Board (SPHCMB), and the DG Drugs and Medical Consumables Supply Agency (DMCSA), Ghali Sule.
Others were Dr Mansur Nagoda, the Executive Secretary, Hospitals Management Board (HMB), Prof. Muhammad Abbas, DG Kano Centre for Disease Control (KNCDC), and Dr Fatima Zahradden, Executive Secretary, Kano Health Trust Fund (KHETFUND).
Dr Rahila Mukhtar, ES, Kano State Contributory Healthcare Management Agency (KSCHMA) would also serve as a member, while Nazeer Tanko-Kyaure, the Director Administration and General Services (DAGS) in the ministry would serve as Secretary.