KAZEEM BIRIOWO reports that just a few months back, cholera made its annual incursion into the country, but unexpectedly the casualty figures began to rise forcing many states to scramble for solutions with most of them lacking a cholera vaccine.
Experts say Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal disease that can kill within hours if left untreated. They estimate that on an annual basis there are 1.3 to 4.0 million cases of the disease globally with mortality figure hovering between 21,000 and 143,000 people.
Often, most of those infected will have no or mild symptoms and can be successfully treated with an oral rehydration solution. In severe cases, rapid treatment with intravenous fluids and antibiotics are needed. However, the disease could be contained with provision of safe water and good sanitation.
In Nigeria as is often the case, cholera outbreaks come as aftermath of flooding. According to experts, those who are typical at risk are population areas in peri-urban slums, and camps for internally displaced persons or refugees, where minimum requirements of clean water and sanitation are below par.
However, this year, only very few states experienced flooding and in most part of the North where cases of cholera have been recorded, the rains are still being expected. This time also, affected areas are not only peri-urban slums and IDP camps but also rural communities. This had left many experts wondering what could have gone wrong.
According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, by the end of July, 18 states including the Federal Capital Territory, have recorded thousands of reported cases and hundreds of casualties with Kano recording one of the highest casualties of 186 deaths. The states where cholera outbreak has been reported include Benue, Delta, Zamfara, Gombe, Bayelsa, Kogi, Sokoto, Bauchi, Kano, Kaduna, Plateau, Kebbi, Cross River, Niger, Nasarawa, Jigawa, Yobe, Kwara and FCT.
NCDC’s Situation Report on the cholera outbreak also shows that roughly 27.6 per cent of victims across the country are those in the five years to 14 years bracket, while 51 per cent of the suspected cases are male, with females accounting for 49 per cent.
Rising death toll
It was gathered that as of July 26, 2021, the cholera death toll in Nigeria has increased by over 61 per cent within three weeks, bringing the total number of deaths from 325 to 529 with states like Kaduna, Jigawa, Bauchi and the Federal Capital Territory accounting for most of the fatalities.
Most of the states in the country where cholera cases had been recorded say the rural communities are the hardest hit, as urban communities often take better precautions in preventing the disease just as they had better access to sanitation facilities than the rural areas.
Across the states, casualties increased from five to 33 in Kaduna, while the death toll in Jigawa State had increased to 30. Other reported casualty cases include 25 deaths in Bayelsa; 12 in Benue; Kogi, 4; Sokoto, 86; Gombe, one; Kebbi, 1; Nasarawa 17; Plateau, 21; Bauchi, 42 and Niger, 10. The figures have continued to increase.
In Kano State, Dr.Basheer Lawan Muhammad, the state Epidemiologist and Incident Manager of the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC), announced late last week that the disease had claimed 186 lives in the state, just as about 41 local government areas out of 44 had been affected. The death toll of 186 was up from 119 recorded between March and June this year.
Similarly, the disease was first noticed in Jos North Local Government, but before long it had spread to 13 other local government areas, making the state government to double its efforts in addressing the problem.
To date, no fewer than 1004 cases had been recorded while 17 persons had died in 12 local government areas of the state. The affected local government areas are Jos North, Jos South, Riyom, Kanam, Nikkos, Wade, Mangy, Bassa, Jos East, Barakin-Ladi, Quapan, Kangyang North and Shendam.
According to the state Commissioner of Health Dr. Nimkong Lar, out of the 1004 suspected cases recorded, 980 people had been discharged while seven others are still receiving treatment in various hospitals.
Not even the nation’s capital, the FCT, has been spared where the Minister of State for the territory, Dr Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, had disclosed that Abaji Area Council recorded three suspected cases with no death while Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) recorded 281 suspected cases with 22 deaths and Bwari Area Council recorded 134 suspected cases with 22 deaths and other areas where combined casualties had increased to 60 within three weeks.
A visit to some local health centres in the FCT affected by the disease showed that most outbreaks and fatalities were recorded in urban slums popularly known as city villages, characterised by dense population with little or no sanitary infrastructures.
In Karmo, a densely populated and low income, local settlement in AMAC Area Council, Idu Karmo Health Centre, is the only health centre there.
Health officials and staffers at the clinic declined to give any information as Sunday Tribune was referred to the FCT Department of health services. Efforts to reach the FCT Director of Public Health, Dr. Saddiq Abdulrrahman as at the time of this report proved abortive.
Bauchi State is also under the scourge of the disease where no fewer than 1000 persons have been admitted and treated in 19 local governments, according to the Executive Chairman of BASPHCDA, Dr Rilwanu Mohammed.
Unfortunately, though Bauchi State is the only state with the cholera vaccine, about 1.5 million in number, many people are not interested in taking it. In fact, some people even went to the extent of chasing away the facilitators of the vaccination.
Traumatic experiences
One of the cholera patients who had been treated, Bege Danasabe, said it was difficult surviving the trauma of the disease.
She said: “It started as stomach ache, then I started going to the toilet. The frequency of visiting the toilet increased and before you know it, I was vomiting and getting weak and my legs were all paining me. But I thank God that I quickly came to health centre for treatment.”
Another resident, Mr Isaiah Kefas Danjuma, disclosed that he has been very careful and watchful about what he termed negligence and nonchalant attitude of the people around his community.
According to him, “that I live in a poor environment does not mean I should neglect my family’s well-being because it is not easy to pay hospital bill when people fall ill.
“Even before the resurgence of cholera which has become yearly outbreaks especially during the rainy season, I always told my family to boil their water before drinking even before using it to bathe. I advise them to keep the environment clean and that has always been the practice in our household and I believe God has been preserving us from diseases because we take care of ourselves and the environment in our own little ways, not waiting for government to do it for us.”
Confirming the high rate of the disease, Dr. Obriku Ference Oklebe, medical personnel in a private hospital in the FCT said he had treated no fewer than 50 cases while asking for support from the government to subsidize treatment and drugs for the public.
A matron, Mrs Elan Elan, in another private clinic closed to the popular Karmo market also said the clinic had successfully treated well over 100 cases.
What is being done?
Though the first step towards effective protection against the disease is the acquisition of vaccines, unfortunately there is a shortfall in that area, though the NCDC says it would work with relevant partners across the globe to make it available.
Among all the states in the country, as of July 26, 2021, only Bauchi State had access to cholera vaccine which was donated by the World Health Organisation.
With this paucity of the cholera vaccines, most of the other states in the country have only embarked on sensitisation programmes to intimate their people on the possible outbreak of the disease in their areas, while advising them to make sanitation, personal hygiene and clean environment their top priority.
Revealing efforts by the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) to contain the disease, its chairman, Abdullahi Adamu Candido, said his council was committed to forestalling continuous spread of the disease within the council and to adjoining communities.
He added that the Primary Health Care Department of the council had embarked on sensitization tour to all the four chiefdoms in AMAC so as to enlighten the traditional rulers and their councils about the cholera outbreak and preventive measures.
“On our part as an area council, we swung into action immediately we received the news of the outbreak and its confirmation in June. We quickly mobilized our health personnel in all our primary healthcare facilities for prompt responses. Following the recommendations from the outbreak report, we provided funds for quick purchase of drugs, infusions and other treatment materials/consumables in addition to the ones we received from the FCT Public Health Department.
“The Disease Control Unit of our Primary Health Care Department through Disease Surveillance Notification Officers have been working tirelessly in different communities of the council including hard-to-reach fields in order to trace and report cases at the primary healthcare facilities for free treatment,” he said.
Given the high figure of casualties in Kano State, the state’s Epidemiologist and Incident Manager of the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC), Dr. Basheer Lawan Muhammad, said government is doing a lot through provision of drugs and overseeing outbreak response including sensitisation of the communities on necessary steps to be taken in addressing the spread, while also collaborating with other health agencies like the UNICEF, WHO among others bodies.
Dr. Muhammad also said the state government has commenced an aggressive campaign to contend with the disease, as community and religious leaders, including the traditional institutions are being mobilised to sensitive residents on the best way to avoid Cholera.
In fighting the battle in Bauchi State, 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 trees shades due to congestion.
Director of Programmes, ActionAid, Hajia Suwaiba Yakubu Jibrin was in Dass local government of thestate recently where she assessed the situation of the outbreak in the area. Suwaiba Jibrin said that, “Infact, 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 May 29th and July 16th 2021.”
Though a suspected outbreak of cholera in Sokoto State had been discovered to be gastroenteritis, also known as the stomach flu, which is typically spread by contact with an infected person or through contaminated food or water, the state government said it is not taking chances.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Muhammad Ali Inname, said the 23 directors of health, diseases surveillances officers and other response team in the state had been called for a coordination meeting aimed at improvement of responses, ways of case management and proper coordination.
He said the Epid Unit of the state ministry of health has responded with drugs and other essential items to the affected LGAs.
“As a government we are not relenting on our efforts to address the problem but we also want to appeal to the public to always maintain good sanitation and shun indiscriminate dumping of waste, which causes waste to be washed into various water sources and bodies, especially during this rainy reason because this also forms part of the solution when practised by the people,” the commissioner stated.
When Sunday Tribune visited Plateau State Specialist Hospital a medical doctor who craved anonymity disclosed that the number of victims has continued to soar daily due to flagrant disregard to basic rules of hygiene
According to him, children, especially those in the rural areas are mostly affected, adding that most of them often resort to self-help but would later come to the hospital when it is getting out of hand.
As cholera continues to claim more lives and state governments scramble their efforts to provide solution, the problem is more highlighted by the fact that the vaccine was not available and poor hygienic conditions and sanitation had always compounded the problem. Just like every other problem confronting the country, the solution is so near yet so far away.
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
We Have Not Had Water Supply In Months ― Abeokuta Residents
In spite of the huge investment in the water sector by the government and international organisations, water scarcity has grown to become a perennial nightmare for residents of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. This report x-rays the lives and experiences of residents in getting clean, potable and affordable water amidst the surge of COVID-19 cases in the state…
Selfies, video calls and Chinese documentaries: The things you’ll meet onboard Lagos-Ibadan train
The Lagos-Ibadan railway was inaugurated recently for a full paid operation by the Nigerian Railway Corporation after about a year of free test-run. Our reporter joined the train to and fro Lagos from Ibadan and tells his experience in this report…
[ICYMI] Lekki Shootings: Why We Lied About Our Presence — General Taiwo
The Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry probing the killings at Lekki Toll Gate, on Saturday resumed viewing of the 24hrs footage of the October 20, 2020 shooting of #EndSARS protesters by personnel of the Nigerian Army…
ICYMI: How We Carried Out The 1993 Nigerian Airways Hijack —Ogunderu
On Monday, October 25, 1993, in the heat of June 12 annulment agitations, four Nigerian youngsters, Richard Ajibola Ogunderu, Kabir Adenuga, Benneth Oluwadaisi and Kenny Razak-Lawal, did the unthinkable! They hijacked an Abuja-bound aircraft, the Nigerian Airways airbus A310, and diverted it to Niger Republic. How did they so it? Excerpts…
Sahabi Danladi Mahuta, a community mobiliser and APC chieftain. Mahuta spoke to select journalists at the sidelines of an Islamic conference in Abuja recently. Excerpts…
At the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI) in Effurun, Delta State, fresh matriculants sat in neat…
Good manners or etiquettes include a range of behaviours that promote respect, kindness and consideration…
Nigerian jollof rice is a beloved dish across West Africa, and when infused with a…
The feverish defection of politicians and their supporters from one political party to another, mostly…
Olayemi Ojeokun is a Nigerian US-based scholar, agronomist, and sustainability advocate. In this interview by…
In Nigeria’s political evolution, perhaps no strategy has been abused more than the “politics of…
This website uses cookies.