Poor sanitation and lack of resources have been tipped to be the main cause of the cholera outbreak in Nigeria, this is what the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control said.
In recent weeks, there has been an outburst of cholera in the country and while speaking on what might have Bee the cause for Tue outburst, the agency’s Director General, Idris Jide, stated that poor hygiene is also a factor that has contributed to the outburst.
He said,”If you go back to this cholera case, to me, it’s a problem of poor sanitation, both personal and environmental; it’s a problem of lack of access to water. The easiest way for good personal hygiene is hand washing, especially after using the toilet, and before you cook your food.
“But in a situation where you tell people to do hand washing and there’s no access to water, it’s a problem. So, I think everybody, including the Federal Government, the state government, different agencies, local governments, even the people themselves, the community, have to come around.”
The chairman urged the government to provide clean and well treated water and good public toilets as major ways of curtailing more cholera outburst in the country. Mr Jide said all of these while speaking with the Channels Television.
For the past few weeks, Lagos state had reported 350 cases of cholera were recorded and they all had cut across various local government areas of the state.
The Lagos state commissioner for health, professor Akin Abayomi stated that the cases in the state were on a downward move.
“The laboratory investigation and test results have so far confirmed Cholera sub-type O-1. This subtype is associated with more severe disease. The pattern of new cases per day varies across LGAS, according to our ongoing surveillance and monitoring updates,” he said this in a statement released by ministry’s director of public affairs,Tunbosun Ogunbanwo.
In the statement,the minister also stated that,”Although this is an increase from the numbers published three days ago, cases are now dramatically subsiding in previously affected LGAs due to our interventions and surveillance efforts, however, we are recording some new cases in previously unaffected LGAs, signalling the need for residents to adhere strictly to precautionary, personal, and environmental hygiene measures.”
Abayomi assured that inspections are on going in facilities and proper cholera kits have been made available in all facilities across Lagos.
“inspections of facilities are ongoing. We are prepositioning cholera kits in health facilities across the State. Our efforts to control the outbreak also include the distribution of Oral Rehydration Solutions (ORS), and public health education campaigns”.
Further on, the commissioner called on all Lagos state residents to take precautionary measures and also corporate with health institutions to keep their environments clean and also adhere to sanitation activities in their environments in order to control the spread of this disease especially as they approach the sallah celebrations.
“Reporting symptoms like watery diarrhea or vomiting immediately is also crucial, to save lives and prevent transmission to other members of the community,” he went on encouraging the residents to take the treatment of cholera serious, saying it is free at the government provided facilities in the state.
Regarding the massive spread of the disease across 30 states in the country, the governor of Ogun state rolled out precautionary measures to be adhered to by members of the public in Ogun.
This was brought to the public’s attention in a statement which was released by the governor’s special adviser on media and strategy, Kayode Akinmade.
He explained that the Governor is concerned about the health and welfare of members of the state, considering the current outbreak in Lagos and also considering how close the two states are from each other.
This has prompted the governor to roll out the precautionary measures which are,
“All houses MUST have toilets. Each house without a toilet should identify a room to be converted to a toilet. Residents are given three to six months of grace for compliance.
“All petrol stations MUST have functional public toilets with running water as part of their corporate social responsibilities. All garages and parks MUST have functional toilets with running water.
“All markets MUST have functional public toilets with running water. Mechanic villages MUST have functional toilets with running water. All schools (public and private) should have public toilets with running water.”
In addition to these measures put in place by the governor,residents of the state were also encouraged to take calculative measures in protecting themselves.
The statement also read, Drink safe water that is boiled or chlorinated; wash your hands with soap and water after visiting the toilet and before handling food; wash fruits and vegetables properly with safe water before eating and for preparing food; cook food properly. Buy and eat only hot food; use water from reliable sources, among other precautions
The government warned that the ministry of environment would be working with them to ensure the strict adherence of this measures and violators would be sanctioned.
