The Federal Government has said that it will engage law enforcement
agencies against parties whose actions or inactions lead to the
diversion of anti-malaria drugs, ACT, supplied to Nigeria by Global
Fund.


The Director Public Health, Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Evelyn
Ngige, disclosed this at the sixty-second National Council of Health
Meeting in Asaba.


 Dr Ngige said the Global Fund financed the procurement and
distribution of sixteen million, two hundred and ninety thousand, two
hundred and fifty ACTs to health facilities in the thirteen states in
2018, “however, only eight million, one hundred and eighty-nine
thousand, two hundred and twenty-six malaria cases presumed and
confirmed, were reported as treated with ACTs across the thirteen
states for the same year.


She said having implemented the grant thus far and following
examination of grant report for 2018, it became clear that not all
malaria commodities distributed to health facilities in the states
could be accounted for particularly ACT.
She frowned that in some places, some of the commodities were found in
private pharmaceutical companies, some on the street despite the fact
that they are labeled `not for sale’.
She, therefore, appealed to States to investigate the matter further
so as to identify the parties whose action or inaction led to the
observed discrepancies between the ACT distributed to health
facilities and reported the number of malaria cases treated.
She said strict sanctions should be applied to all found culpable,
stressing that accountability systems should be put in place to ensure
that the most vulnerable population in states continues to benefit
from the support from the Global Fund.
The director warned that if much was not done by the state
governments, the federal ministry of health would engage law
enforcement agents to save the face of the country from further
embarrassment.

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