FG Adopts Measures To Fight Outbreak Of Diphtheria

By Florence Adewale

The Federal Government in collaboration with relevant stakeholders has accelerated the integration of diphtheria response into the daily routine immunisation to guard against preventable diseases.

The Executive Director, National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr Faisal Shuaib made this known in Abuja at a news conference on the update from diphtheria task force emergency committee.

Dr Shuaib who said the integration is a holistic strategy to ensure that while focusing on controlling the Diphtheria outbreak, it does not encourage loosing sight of other vaccines to address preventable diseases.

Dr Shuaib explained further “we must confront the severity of Diphtheria in Nigeria with a sense of urgency and unwavering determination. The numbers speak for themselves, and the consequences of inaction are far too severe to be ignored. The time to act is now.”

On his part the co-chair of the task force and Director General National Centre for Disease Control, Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa explained that, as at 19th of October 2023, there were 15,060 reported suspected cases out of which 9,478 were confirmed cases from 137 LGAs in 20 States including the FCT.

“Kano – 7,747, Yobe – 841, Bauchi – 369, Katsina – 275, Borno – 164, Jigawa -24,
Kaduna – 18, Lagos – 8, Zamfara – 7, FCT – 7, Lagos – 6, Gombe – 5, Sokoto – 4, Osun – 3, Niger – 2, while Cross River, Enugu, Imo, Nasarawa, Kebbi, Taraba have 1 each.

He said of the 9,478 confirmed cases, 6,777 (71.5%) were aged 1-14 years.
Infants: <1%, 1-4 years: 14.1%, 5-9 years: 30.6%, 10-14 years:
26.8%, and Adults ≥ 20 years : 16%.

According to him, finalisation of the development of the National Diphtheria Laboratory Guidelines is underway.

Dr. Adetifa stressed that the team would continue to develop and disseminate public health advisories,
to address misinformation and disinformation on the disease.

“I would personally like to plead with the public to avoid sharing unverified information
from unknown sources, and only share verified information from the official government
channels.”

Also, the Representatives of UNICEF and World Health Organization pledged their continuous support to Nigeria to improve healthcare delivery in the country.

Edited By Grace Namiji