Cholera: Niger state organizes advocacy compaign to reduce open defecation

The Niger state government has organized an advocacy compaign to really persuade people especially in the rural communities to reduce open defecation ,and also how to curtail the spread of deadly diseases amongst them as it announces  a cholerea outbreak  claiming  the lives of over 150 people  across the 25 Local government areas of the state .

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The commissioner for health and hospital services in the state, Dr Mohammed Makun Sidi stated this during a workshop organized by the pathfinder international in Minna the Niger state capital .

Dr Sidi said the outbreak which first occurred 18 local government areas of the state 5 months ago,rapidly escalated to other local government areas of the state within the period

” From our records 150 people lost their lives out of the over 1500 People affected within the 4 months of the Cholorea outbreak across the state “added Dr Sidi

The Niger state commissioner for health ,Dr Muhammad Makun Sidi, who lamented over the rate of open deifications and waste disposal across the state as responsible for the cholerea outbreak, urged people on the need for preventive measures against reoccurance of the endermic.

Dr Makun Sidi however applauded Pathfinder International for various health support and awareness campaigns across the state and other parts of the country.

Report shows that response efforts n cholera outbreaks are experiencing challenges in reaching a handful of communities with risk communication strategies,outbreak response measures and vaccination campaigns

Reports from NCDC shown that the since January 2021, Cholera cases have climbed substantially in Nigeria,with outbreaks concentrated in a number of Northern states.

“Since the beginning of 2021,a total of 22,130.suspected Cholorea cases and 526 death have been reported from 18 states and 28 percent of all cases are among children aged 5-14 years old“.

The NCDC report however mentioned that it has demonstrated plans to submit cholera vaccine requests to the international coordinating groups for reactive cholera campaigns across the country