By Idu Jude
The Nigeria Centre for Disease and Control (NCDC) has said one of the ways to stop the sweeping scourge of cholera around the country is to adopt Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, (WaSH) to protect the lives of citizens from outbreaks.
To achieve the goal, the NCDC said it has mandated the National Public Health Institute to lead the preparedness, detection and response to infectious diseases outbreaks and public health emergencies.
In a telephone interview with ThisNigeria, the Director-General of NCDC, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, affirmed that the agency had been leading the national response to the outbreak of cholera across states in Nigeria, adding that the disease had been exacerbated by poor access to clean water, open defecation, poor sanitation and hygiene.
Ihekweazu said between January 1 and August 1, 2021, no fewer than 31,425 suspected cases of cholera, 311 confirmed cases and 816 deaths, had been reported from 22 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The affected states are Benue, Delta, Zamfara, Gombe, Bayelsa, Kogi, Sokoto, Bauchi, Kano, Kaduna, Plateau, Kebbi, Cross River, Niger, Nasarawa, Jigawa, Yobe, Kwara, Enugu, Adamawa, Katsina and Borno as well as the FCT.
He said following an increase in the number of cholera cases, the National Cholera Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) was activated on June 22, 2021, and was hosted by the NCDC with stakeholders from the Federal Ministries of Environment and Water Resources, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) and World Health Organisation (WHO), among other partners, to proffer solution to the problems.
He further indicated that the National Cholera EOC (EcoVadis Gold Certificate) had led the deployment of Rapid Response Teams to support the most affected states such as Benue, Kano, Kaduna, Zamfara, Bauchi, and Plateau.
In addition, the director-general said partners had provided states with commodities for case management and laboratory diagnosis, materials for risk communications, response guidelines, among other support.
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He added that a reactive Oral Cholera Vaccine (OCV) campaign led by NPHCDA was conducted in Bauchi Local Government Area of Bauchi State from July 24 to 28, to ascertain the efficacy of the materials.
“But none of these medical interventions will solve the underlying issues leading to cholera outbreaks.
‘’Cholera is a water-borne disease, and the risk of transmission is higher when there is poor sanitation and disruption of clean water supply,” he said.
On the issue of health standards, he observed that a long-term solution for cholera control lies in access to safe drinking water, maintenance of proper sanitation and hygiene.
Also speaking to our correspondent, the Bauchi State Director of Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Adamu Mohammed, said the state had written a Save-our-Soul letter to the Federal Government through the Ministry of Health to help the state, which presently has the highest record of cholera disease.
Mohammed said the state is currently at the mercy of the Federal Government, as it had buried up to 1,000 people who died of the scourge.
