FG presents drugs to Bauchi to curtail cholera outbreak

By Abbas Aminu Bamalli

The Federal Government has donated drugs to the Bauchi State Government to curtail the spread of cholera outbreak in the State.

Presenting the drugs to the state government on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Health, Director of Disease Surveillance in the Ministry, Mrs. Olubunmi Ojo, said, the drugs were part of the Federal Government intervention to bring the cholera outbreak under control.

Mrs. Ojo who led a rapid response team deployed by the Federal Ministry of Health, said, the team was in the state for surveillance activities, to assess the level of containment, to complement the efforts of the Bauchi State Government as well as beef up support to checkmate further spread of the disease.

While calling on the Bauchi State Government to step up its surveillance activities, increase portable water supply to the people, she advised people of the state to observe and cultivate simple hygiene habit like washing hands before eating and keeping their environments clean.

Receiving the drugs on behalf of the state government, the Acting Chairman, Bauchi State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Yahaya Yarima, thanked the Federal Government for the kind gesture which he said will go a long way to ameliorate the condition of the patients.

He said, since the outbreak of cholera disease in the state, the State Government had taken proactive measures to forestall further spread of the disease to include sensitization and public enlightenment on the outbreak, chlorination of wells in the state, sinking of bore holes and visit to schools to sensitize the students on the cholera outbreak among others.

Earlier, Dr.Jibril Umar Muhammad, the Bauchi State Epidemiologist said that from January 2014 to date, a total of 9190 cholera cases were recorded in the state with 53 deaths, adding that 11 out of the 20 local Government Areas in the state were affected.

He said that the Bauchi State Government in collaboration with UNICEF, WHO, USAID, Red Cross and Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF), are working relentlessly to stem the tide of the cholera disease.