AS CHOLERA CONTINUES TO KILL…

All the stakeholders must do more to contain the scourge

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control’s latest report that cholera outbreak has seen a sharp increase in 2024, with suspected cases rising by an alarming 220 per cent, is quite shameful. According to the public health institute, 198 new suspected cases were reported across five states, leading to 15 deaths and a weekly case fatality rate (CFR) of 7.6 per cent.  Indeed as of last week, the country had recorded 10,837 suspected cases and 359 deaths, which represents a 239 per cent increase in fatalities compared to 2023. Health authorities in Nigeria should be concerned by this development.

For more than four decades, cholera has not only been a recurring disease in Nigeria but has also led to the death of thousands of our people, especially children. Mostly contracted through drinking of contaminated water and eating of waste products, cholera often leads to the infection of the small intestine.

That Nigerians are still afflicted by such a disease in this age tells a compelling story about the state of the country. In many of the states, the villagers and rural dwellers still rely on streams and wells as their only sources of drinking water. In most cases also, the people rely largely on stagnant water for washing their clothes and other items.

Since cholera is more prevalent in rural areas, the problem becomes more compounded when and where there are no modern medical facilities to assist in the treatment of the disease. The spread of cholera becomes worse when the environment is not clean; when water system is not treated and when sanitation is not taken seriously.  While there have been some efforts by the federal government to deal with the challenge, we have not seen a corresponding commitment from many of the states. Meanwhile, according to the NCDC, in communities affected by the outbreak of the infectious disease, open defecation is a common practice. “There is also inadequate WASH infrastructure and supplies including wastewater management facilities,” the agency said.

More surveillance, more awareness, more resources and better coordination will be necessary to reduce deaths from cholera and other preventable diseases. Fortunately, with effective coordination, the disease can be contained quickly but the real challenge is to work towards its total eradication from Nigeria as it has been done in many other countries. According to World Health Organisation (WHO), no human should die from preventable diseases like cholera. To address this challenge, there is urgent need for public enlightenment on healthy living. Experts have advised that people should ensure their food (cooked or uncooked) is properly covered while regular handwashing should be adhered to always.

 Cholera kills when a person loses too much body fluids. Such deaths are preventable if victims are quickly rehydrated. Since no vaccine has been developed to work against cholera, what is commonly used is oral rehydration solutions (ORS) as part of measures to mitigate the problem. But prevention is still very much better than cure. To that extent, our rural dwellers and the urban poor need to know more about the rules of basic hygiene.  

  The world has moved ahead of the era where cholera kills citizens. Healthcare officials and other critical stakeholders in Nigeria must therefore do more in providing adequate clean water for the citizens, especially for those that are in the rural areas. We must work towards banishing cholera outbreaks from the country.

Related Articles