•Attribute rising cases to open defecation
Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has revealed that 149 persons died from cholera in 2022, out of 5, 451 suspected cases that was reported.
It also attributed the rising cases of cholera across the country to increasing practice of open defecation in the affected communities, in addition to absence of potable drinking water in some of the rural areas and urban slums.
In its weekly epidemiological report, the NCDC stated that children below the age of five years were mostly affected with 47 per cent males and 53 per cent females.
The epidemiological report which was signed by the NCDC Director General, Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa, also gave details of the cholera epidemic in 13 states, namely, Yobe (918 cases), Borno (679 cases), Taraba (676 cases), Cross River (650), Katsina (378 cases), kano (333 cases), Jigawa (317 cases), Ondo (283 cases), Zamfara (178 cases) Adamawa (161 cases), Gombe (159 cases), Bayelsa (145 cases) and Bauchi (122 cases), accounted for 92 per cent of all cumulative cases.
Similarly, 12 Local Government Areas (LGAs) across six states, namely, Cross River (3), Taraba (3), Yobe (3), Borno (1), kano (1) and Zamfara (1), reported more than 100 cases each this year.
The NCDC attributed the rising cases of cholera across the country to increasing practice of open defecation in the affected communities, in addition to absence of potable drinking water in some of the rural areas and urban slums.
According to the NCDC, poor hygiene practice in most of the affected communities and inadequate health facility infrastructure and cholera commodities for management of patients, were also responsible for the disease.
Others challenges as highlighted by NCDC were difficulty in accessing some communities due to security concerns, inadequate trained personnel in states for case management, and poor and inconsistent reporting from states.
The NCDC further stated that other steps being taken in response to cholera spread included sustained training on cholera surveillance, hotspot mapping, and development of state level preparedness and response plans.
The agency added that it was maintaining communication with and support states for data reporting and response, and also to continue in advocacy efforts to states government to increase funding in WASH infrastructure as well as distributing response commodities across states, and also build capacity for sample collections, transportation and laboratory diagnosis, among others.
