The World Health Organisation, (WHO) says it will support Nigeria with 92 million naira and also working with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) to organize the 1st phase of vaccination campaign targeting children from 0 to 14 years old in four states.
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The WHO Country Representative in Nigeria, Dr. Walter Kazadi made this known to Journalists in Abuja on the ongoing Diphtheria outbreak in Nigeria.
Dr. Kazadi said WHO was requested by NCDC to procure Diphtheria Antitoxin (DAT) and intravenous administration of the antibiotic medication erythromycin (erythromycin IV) for the case management of diphtheria cases.
“1800 vials of DAT is expected to arrive in the country on 2nd August and erythromycin in 1-2 weeks, pending government authorization; these health commodities are essential for saving lives and reduce the sequelae in the affected patients, thus need to be prepositioned in the country and ready to be deployed to the states in need”. He said.
The WHO Country Rep said the NCDC also requested support from WHO for the deployment of 18 rapid response teams to support Bauchi, Kaduna and Katsina response. He noted that the deployment process is underway following the requested profile and a mix of the workforce from the Nigeria Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Programme (NFELTP), Avoc-SURGE and WHO staff will be used.
“WHO team is on the ground in Yobe and Kano, improving the surveillance at health facility and community level, supporting the active case search and supporting the decentralized isolation centers and referral to the state reference treatment centers, in alignment of State Ministry of Health request and NCDC guidance; WHO is supporting FCT in conducting an integrated Active Case Search and Household Sensitization in FCT optimizing the opportunity for the Fractional Inactivated Polio Vaccine (fIPV ) and the Non-bivalent Oral Polio Vaccine type 2 routine immunization (nOPV2 RI) intensification campaign”. He added.
Dr. Kazadi also explained that the WHO is supporting the procurement of laboratory commodities to increase the result turnaround time to support the case definition and management at early stage.
