Punch
By Niyi Odebode and Ozioma Ubabukoh
The Federal Government on Monday said that it had distributed 370,000 doses of meningitis vaccines to Jigawa and Bauchi states.
The Minister of Health, Prof. Babatunde Osotimehin, in a statement by his Special Assistant on Communication, Mr. Niyi Ojuolape, said that 148 cases of meningitis were recorded in the country in the first eight weeks of the year.
The minister said that the cases were recorded in 30 local government areas of Bauchi and Jigawa states, adding that most of the cases were Type A of the disease.
Explaining efforts of the government to combat the spread of the disease, he said, “The Federal Ministry of Health will ensure adequate supplies of the diagnostic and therapeutic agents to the affected states.”
Osotimehin also stated, “Nigeria is located on the west coast of Africa, right in the centre of the African meningitis belt. Close to 30 per cent of the population in the 21 African countries in the meningitis belt is in Nigeria.
“The hot, dry climate is favourable for the development of meningitis epidemic between November and June. The disease is hyper-endemic, with epidemic outbreaks usually occurring during this period with a peak in activity between late February and April.”
The minister said he would soon convene a meeting of the epidemic preparedness and response team “so that all affected and at-risk states are kept in the loop and efforts coordinated along with multiple stakeholders.”
He added that the ministry had organised a refresher training for health officers in all high-risk states in the areas.
According to him, investigations of cases have been strengthened, adding that laboratory confirmation through clinical materials is being done.
The minister recalled that in 2009, Nigeria recorded more than 40,000 cases of cerebrospinal meningitis, far less than what experts anticipated.
Meanwhile, Osotimehin has expressed the ministry’s desire to build at least five schools of nursing and midwifery in each local government area across the country.
He made this pronouncement on Monday, at the official flag-off training on Life Saving Skills and Integrated Management of Childhood Illness, under the Midwives Service Scheme in the Federal Capital Territory and 34 states.
The MSS was established under the 2009 Appropriation Act, by the Federal Ministry of Health through one of its agencies, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency.
Responding, the NPHCDA’s Executive Director, Dr. Muhammad Pate, said that after deploying 2,488 midwives to the frontline facilities, the agency had concluded arrangements to commence a two-week training on LSS and IMCI in selected schools of midwifery.
Also, the Chairman, NPHCDA Governing Board and Emir of Shonga, Dr. Haliru Yahaya, said significant progress had been made within a short time in the implementation of the scheme.
Comments :
• Pls, what of us'' Batch C corpers'' in sokoto. We hav not been vacinatd.
The sun is terrible & i am realy afraid of what may happen next. Pls HELP
Posted by: China , on Tuesday, March 02, 2010
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• WHAT OF THE SWINE FLU VACCINES?WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THE MONEY MEANT FOR THE
PROVISION OF THE VACCINES? WE DEMAND ANSWER FOR IT.THIS IS MARCH NOTHING HAS
BEEN SAID SO FAR CONCERNING IT,WHAT WE ARE HEARING NOW IS MENINGITIS
VACCINES.THESE PEOPLE ARE ROGUES
Posted by: fineboy , on Monday, March 01, 2010
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