Ogun, three other states record highest number of Cholera cases -NCDC

Damilola Ajibola

Ogun, Zamfara, Cross River and Adamawa states, have been indentified by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), as states with the highest cholera cases in the country.

The NCDC’s Incident Manager of the Cholera Technical Working Group, Dr Sebastian Yennan, stated this on Tuesday, in Abuja,  at the monthly meeting of the Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in Emergency Working Group.

He stated that the cases were updates from the centre’s Epidemiology Week 39, and efforts were ongoing to provide response commodities to affected states across the country.

 

Yennan mentioned that NCDC’s intervention through cholera case management was carried out in partnership with WHO by distributing infection prevention and control kits, WASH kits, and chlorine powder, among others.

He noted that this intervention was being prioritised in the four states, mentioning that the distributed kits could also be used in emergency situations like Lassa fever and diphtheria outbreaks.

“The NCDC has partnered with a third-party logistics company in the distribution of commodities and also to bring samples. Our cholera response is active in all 36 states and the FCT.

“In Zamfara, for instance, the governor visited the cholera treatment centre in Anka local government, which was built by Doctors Without Borders/MSF. They have received response commodities”.

He mentioned that states needed to do more to prioritize cholera prevention by ensuring that funds were budgeted early and accessible.

He added that the centre was in charge of the administration of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund.

The fund, Yenna said, was designed to strengthen the national health system, calling on states to preposition their needs to access it before, during, and after disease outbreaks.

He also urged all stakeholders to strengthen partnerships to promote advocacy for the prevention of health emergencies in the country.

Mr. Dapo Akingbade, a representative from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), mentioned that due to the release of excess water from the Lagdo dam in Cameroon, 13 states have experienced flooding.

He added that 171,545 people were displaced in the affected states, with property and farmlands destroyed and no fewer than 45 deaths.

Akingbade, while providing an update as of October 7, stated that the agency had commenced an assessment of the flood situation in Adamawa with the activation of the emergency operation centre for the coordination of interventions.

“The flooding in Adamawa has impacted a lot of people and communities. At the EOC meeting, we recommended that all states activate their flood response plans.

“Also, we are awaiting a detailed needs assessment report from Adamawa to know the appropriate areas for response by APC.”