ENUGU—GOVERNOR Chimaroke Nnamani of Enugu State has identified the elitist approach to reform implementations in the country as the major cause of the failure of such programmes. He made the observation when he received officials of the Federal Ministry of Health, UNICEF and United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) responsible for the New Malaria Drug programme. According to the governor, the near elitism of programme implementation meant that rather than discussing with the people, who are the real stakeholders, the operators talk to themselves mostly in the comforts of the urban areas.
He therefore called for active participation of all the stakeholders in the implementation of the various reform programmes of government, adding that the success of reform programmes would depend on the level of active participation by all stakeholders.
Nnamani specifically told the visiting team of health officials that the current war against malaria and HIV should not be waged in five star hotels or in air-conditioned jeeps and should also be devoid of any commercial or profit motives.
He further advised that efforts should not made to ensure that funds allocated for the programme was not exhausted in conferences and expensive cars but should be used for the people that needed it most.
The governor stated that Enugu state government was poised to participate in the reform programme as partners in progress based on mutual respect and advised that any study or move to introduce certain drugs for treatment of malaria should not be driven by pharmaceutical interests.
In his speech the leaders of the team and assistant health adviser to DFID, Dr Tarry Asoka, told governor Nnamani that their mission in Enugu was to consult with stakeholders in the south East zone on the new reform programme in malaria treatment.
He explained that in the course of the visit the health experts would investigate the barriers in health programmes and how best to surmount them. The team leader disclosed that there was an ongoing drug efficacy test in the state due to the recent discovery that malaria parasite has become resistant to chloroquine. He said that there was a policy to change from chloroquine therapy to other therapy, adding that the implementation required the support of all stakeholders at both federal and state levels.
