… Reaches Over 50,000 Children
The Child Health Campaign (CHC) implemented in Kudan Local Government Area of Kaduna State, North West Nigeria, has delivered remarkable results, reaching over 50,000 children and achieving sharp reductions in malnutrition among children under five.
Over the one year, the Dimagi CommCare Connect Child Health Campaign, implemented in partnership with Solina Health and the Kaduna State Primary Health Care Board, reached 50,053 children aged 6–59 months with essential nutrition services. These services included Zinc/ORS to treat diarrhoea, Vitamin A supplementation to protect vision and strengthen immunity, and Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) screening to detect malnutrition quickly.
Project data show that 45,437 children received a second visit, resulting in a 91% revisit success rate. During these follow-up visits, community volunteers also identified and provided services to an additional 5,530 children for the first time, ensuring deeper saturation across Kudan LGA and extending services to previously unreached families.
The consistency of these contacts translated into strong nutrition outcomes. Among children who received follow-up visits, Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM) reduced by 73.7%, while Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) reduced by 92.2%. These figures indicate that thousands of children in Kudan are now healthier, stronger, and more likely to survive and thrive.
A network of 30 trained community volunteers powered the campaign through house-to-house visits across the LGA. They walked long distances, often making repeat visits under challenging conditions, to deliver services and counsel caregivers. Volunteers also used simple MUAC tapes to check children’s nutritional status and explained the benefits of interventions such as Vitamin A and Zinc/ORS in clear, practical terms.
Digital innovation played a key role in ensuring the campaign’s quality and reach. Using Dimagi’s CommCare Connect platform, frontline workers captured data at the point of service, enabling real-time supervision, tracking of household visits, and rapid identification of gaps. This strengthened transparency, accountability, and responsiveness across the programme and helped ensure that children due for follow-up were not left behind.
At the close-out event, the Executive Secretary of the Kaduna State Primary Health Care Board (KSPHCB), Professor Bello Jamoh, described the results from Kudan as “impressive and encouraging” and commended the partners for delivering a high-impact intervention.
“We are satisfied with your performance in Kudan Local Government,” Professor Jamoh said. “Your performance is a pride to Kaduna State. The results show that when government, communities, and partners work together, we can protect our children from malnutrition and give them a better chance in life.”
Principal/Program Director at Solina Centre for International Development and Research (SCIDaR), Demilade Osoteku, highlighted that the headline numbers tell only part of the story.
“The most powerful part of this campaign is not just that we reached our target; it is that we stayed with these children,” he explained. “A 91 percent revisit rate and the discovery of over five thousand additional children during second visits show that the system did not stop at first contact. These are simple tools in the hands of committed people, yet the impact on children’s lives is truly profound.”
Osoteku noted that the Kudan experience demonstrates that community-based interventions can achieve both scale and quality, especially when backed by strong digital tools. He stressed that the model provides a solid foundation for strengthening routine child health and nutrition services across Kaduna State.
Michael Obiabo
The Project Manager for the campaign, Michael Obiabo placed the Kudan results within the broader global push towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by 2030.
“As the world moves towards UHC, digital innovation is becoming central to how health services are delivered,” Obiabo said. “Dimagi’s CommCare Connect platform is designed to equip frontline workers in low- and middle-income countries with practical tools that help them serve families better. The success we have seen in Kudan reinforces the value of combining community-based delivery with robust digital systems.”
He added that Dimagi has successfully piloted the platform in eight countries, Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, Uganda, Ethiopia, Zambia and India, and is working to scale and enhance user experience based on lessons from programmes like the Kudan campaign.
The Vice Chairman of Kudan Local Government, Hon. Usman Abbas Likoro, described the programme as “well packaged, well delivered, and deeply felt at community level,” praising the volunteers and health workers for their dedication.
The District Head of Hunkuyi, Alhaji Aminu Mohammed Ashiru, also commended the exercise, noting that the project “delivered on its promise to improve the health and wellbeing of children in the area” and called for the approach and lessons from Kudan to be scaled to other LGAs in Kaduna State.
