Special Report: Adamawa State Ministry of Health Inaugurates Technical Group on SOML

By Abubakar Mohammed

          

Last Thursday 9th February, 2017 marked another  historic milestone in Adamawa state health sector, the Honourable Commissioner Dr Fatima Atiku Abubakar inaugurated Technical Consultative Group and Programme Management Unit of Save One Million Lives program (SOML).

SOML Program for Results (PforR) is a Federal Government of Nigeria maternal and child health program, supported by the World Bank that provides incentives based on achievement of results (health outcomes) and helps to drive institutional processes needed to achieve these results.

The SOML Initiative was launched by the President of Nigeria in October 2012 in response to the poor health outcomes in the country, particularly for mothers and children. SOML represents a bold attempt to improve maternal and child health outcomes so that they are more in keeping with the country’s level of wealth.  It also intends for the health sector to contribute to the economic and social development of Nigeria instead of being a drag on growth.

The program focuses on six important aspects (“pillars”) of maternal newborn and child health (MNCH) that can save lives and two ‘enablers’ . The pillars are: (1) Improving Maternal, Newborn and Child Health; (2) Improving routine immunization coverage and achieving polio eradication; (3) Elimination of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV; (4) Scaling up access to essential medicines and commodities; (5) Malaria control; (6) Improving child nutrition. The two enablers include (7) strengthening logistics and supply chain management and (8) promoting innovation and use of technology to improve health services.

TCG Members are expected to meet on quarterly basis  and shall be responsible for ensuring that the  programs remain focus on results, data - survey and administrative  regularly analyzed in detail, and that the issues identified are addressed. While  PMU will serve as the secretariat for the TCG and also responsible for for day to day implementation of the program.