The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has promised to donate commodities to the Six Local Government Areas affected by cholera outbreak in Niger state.
This is aimed at halting its negative impact, towards minimising the disease from spreading to other Local Government Areas.
Speaking to Journalists after inspecting an isolation centre at old wing of late Senator Idris Ibrahim Kuta Primary Health Care centre, on old airport road Minna, UNICEF Chief Kaduna Field Office, Dr. Gerida Birukila said even though the center has been running, it wants to beef it up to meet up to the international standard and demands of the cholera treatment.
Niger State Government though the Commissioner of Primary Health Care, Dr. Ibrahim Dangana had earlier confirmed that thirteen lives were lost and about two hundred and forty persons were hospitalised in six Local Government Areas following the Cholera outbreak.
The UNICEF Chief however explained that it will be working in collaboration with the Niger state Government and other organisations like the World Health Organisation (WHO) to curb the spread of the disease.
According to her “as of today (Thursday), most of those who have died are children and they are also more represented in the 297 suspected cases.”
“We have four new cases who have just been admitted here, but in the local government areas there are twenty three cases. But some of them are positive while others are not.
Also speaking, UNICEF Health Specialist with Kaduna Field Office, Dr. Sule Mele said the case of cholera was identified two weeks ago and in the metropolitan city of Minna which has Chanchaga and Bosso LGAs, and had gradually spread to other four other Local Government Areas.
On efforts made so far, he said UNICEF has donated commodities and it is ready to set up cholera treatment units in all the other LGAs that there are suspected cases because we can not bring all the suspects here and we are going to preposition these commodities to these units.
Director Public Health Ministry of Secondary and Tertiary Health, Dr. Ibrahim Idris said Niger State Government has set up treatment and isolation centres to mitigate its spread and has embarked on aggressive sensitization exercises to achieve maximum results.
END ALIYU LAWAL.
