By Omowumi Samuel in Abuja.
The Federal Ministry of Environment, in collaboration with relevant stakeholders including Bwari Area Council, has taken campaign to Kubwa district of the Federal Capital Territory,(FCT), an epicentre of the scourge.
It is no longer news that Nigeria is experiencing cholera outbreak in several parts of the country with related cases of fatalities. This disease has remained a global threat to public health and has affected both children and adult overtime, which has resulted to death.
The Minister of Environment, Mohammad Mahmood Abubakar, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Abel Olumuyiwa Enitan, stated that the latest situation report from Nigeria Centre for Disease Control,(NCDC), released on August 17, 2021 indicated 37,498 suspected cases including 1,149 death in 24 states of the federation and FCT.
According to him: “Cholera, which is a sanitation and hygiene enabled disease, is an acute diarrhoea infection caused by ingestion of unwholesome food or water, contaminated with the bacterium, due to poor hygiene, unsafe environmental sanitation”.
“Also,this virulent disease takes between 12 hours and 5 days for symptoms to manifest.
“The cholera outbreak is a seasoned public health event in Nigeria, which comes annually, mostly during the rainy season and more often in areas with poor sanitation and hygiene practices.
“This year’s outbreak is very serious and has continued to ravage many states with more casualties recorded daily,”
‘Over the years, the Federal Ministry of Environment,in collaboration with stakeholders cutting across the Academia, Development partners among others, has taken calculative steps to deliver adequate sanitation and hygiene services to the citizens.
“Likewise, these measures taken have been recognized as follows: development of policies, regulatory and legislative frame work, implementation of relevant programmes and project, establishment of relevant regulatory and enforcement agencies amongst others.”
The Minister implored the local government council chairmen to engage graduates of Environmental health as volunteers for “this response and subsequently employ more officers for such sanitation services.”
” Sanitation and hygiene issue is a collective community responsibility, therefore, all segments of the society,including community association/leaders, traditional rulers, NGOs/CBOs, faith- based organizations, religious leaders, youth/women groups, professional bodies are urged to get involved in the nationwide intervention response for cholera outbreak.
Our Correspondent reports that the Minister FCT, Malam Mohammed Musa Bello, emphasized that the cholera outbreak curve had flattened and remained so in FCT since week 32, through to the current week 34, with zero daily reported cases from all previously affected communities across the 6 Area councils.
He expressed deep regret as a result of the death toil recorded and assured that efforts “will be intensified to ensure there is no such reoccurrence.”
The Chairman, Bwari Area Council, John Garbaya, lauded the engagement of the government in ensuring safety to the people. He enjoined the government, being a responsible administration, to take immediate measures to curb and stop the spread of this dreadful disease.
