Over 300 persons have been admitted for cholera following the outbreak of the disease in Dass LGA of Bauchi State just as ActionAid Nigeria has urged the Bauchi State Government and Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to declare a state of emergency over the outbreak of Cholera in the State to save the residents from the disease.
As part of its fight against the disease, ActionAid has donated 1,500 kits to the Cholera Treatment Centres (CTC) in Bauchi, Ningi, Dass and Toro where Children as young as six years old could be seen taking the medication under mango shades due to congestion.
Director of Programmes, Bauchi State Primary Health Care Development Agency (BASPHCDA), Hajia Suwaiba Yakubu Jibrin, was in Dass local government of the state, on Thursday where she assessed the situation of the outbreak in the area.
Suwaiba Jibrin said that, “In fact, there is an urgent need for the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to come to the aid of the people of Bauchi State to stem the spread of the disease to other communities. It is even surprising that the NCDC is yet to wade in despite a report of 591 confirmed cases between 29th May to July 16th 2021.”
She implored households to observe critical hygiene rules during the Sallah celebration and beyond by ensuring that food was prepared under hygienic conditions to prevent further spread of cholera that may claim the lives of the innocent.
Earlier, the Residence Programme Coordinator of ActionAid, Mr Anicetus Atakpu commended the Bauchi State government for its effort so far but regretted that “there is a disconnect between agencies of government because if there is better synergy, the record of infected persons and fatality will not be this high, so we advise the government to bring in more hands.”
Anicetus Atakpu added that “Our visit to cholera hotspot in Bauchi state has convinced us to believe that what we have donated was just a drop in the ocean and we feel more international agencies should also render help to the state in order to halt the spread of cholera.”
While receiving the Action aid team in Dass, the local government hygiene promoter, Mallama Aishatu Ibrahim Gital blamed the high rate of infection in the area for poor observance of personal hygiene habits including handwashing at critical times, clean toilet behaviour and proper handling of food.
She said that the “WASH unit of the Dass L G has since commenced chlorination and decontamination of infected homes and embarked on aggressive awareness on the observance of personal hygiene rules.”
As of June 17, according to the State Primary Health Care Development Agency, over 2,800 persons were hospitalised while 42 deaths were recorded.
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