Red Cross Trains 40 Volunteers to Tackle Cholera in Katsina

Francis Sardauna in Katsina

The Nigerian Red Cross Society (NRCS) has recruited and trained 40 volunteers to create awareness on the dangers and preventive measures of cholera to rural dwellers in the state.

The volunteers, drawn from Funtua and Charanchi Local Government Areas of the state, are expected to carry out door-to-door campaigns in the affected areas, informing families about the disease, how they can protect themselves and what to do in the event a family member contracts the disease.

Speaking during the two-day training in Charanchi Saturday, the state Secretary of the NRCS, Bala Abdullahi Hussaini, said each of the trained volunteers would receive a monthly stipend of N30,000 within the lifespan of the project.

He reiterated that in recent times, Katsina State has been battling with a cholera outbreak to the extent that it currently has more than 8,000 cases across the 34 local government areas.

Hussaini said: “Based on the priority areas, we are able to pick Funtua being the highest with the number of cholera cases and Charanchi being the fourth.

“We recruited 20 volunteers in Charanchi and 20 others in Funtua, making a total of 40 volunteers. They are to work within four months and these volunteers are going into communities to sensitize the communities on the dangers and way of transmission of this cholera disease.

“They will be reporting everyday to the team lead and the team lead will also report everyday to the project officer and the project officer will report to the Emergency Operation Centres in Katsina and Abuja.”

He added that the NRCS was collaborating with the state government to see the possibility of identifying an oral rehydration centre where all cholera-related cases can be channelled in order to curtail the deadly disease.