By Kene Obiezu
As if life in Nigeria was not hard enough as it is, it is utterly alarming that every now and then, cholera breaks out across sections of the country, sickening many, killing some and endangering others. There is no doubt that each time there is an outbreak, it shoves Nigerias public health system into the dock.
It was certainly made chilling news that in 2021 Nigeria had the dubious distinction of emerging as the country with the highest number of cholera cases globally. As per revelations by the NCDC, data showed that the country reported 111.062 cases of the disease with 3,604 deaths recorded across 34 states of the Federation.
The states included Abia, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Enugu, FCT, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, Rivers, Zamfara. The report also revealed that children between the age of 5 to 14 were the most affected age group for male and female.
Alarming statistics were also apportioned to states in the North. Four states – Bauchi (19.558 cases), Jigawa (15,141 cases) Kano (12,161 cases) and Zamfara (11,931 cases) account for 53 percent of all cumulative cases. Eleven Local Government Areas (LGAs) across five states: Bauchi (4) Zamfara (4) Kano (1), Katsina (1) and Borno (1) reported more than 1,000 cases each.
Now cholera is a diarrheal disease that can kill within hours if it is not treated. It is endemic in Nigeria and outbreaks were reported as far back as the 1970s.The disease spreads through contaminated food and water, reappearing periodically in countries unable to secure access to clean drinking water and adequate sanitation like Nigeria.
As if life in Nigeria was not hard enough as it is, it is utterly alarming that every now and then, cholera breaks out across sections of the country, sickening many, killing some and endangering others. There is no doubt that each time there is an outbreak, it shoves Nigerias public health system into the dock. Many Nigerians had long suspected that their creaking healthcare system could be easily overrun by severe public health challenges.
When in 2020, Covid-19 raced through western capitals spreading death and panic with unprecedented fury, many Nigerians feared for themselves and their families. Thankfully, though the disease made its way to Nigeria and stubbornly stuck around, the casualty figures have not gone over the rooftops as many predicted. In the devastation it wrought to rural communities, cholera has proven as much a formidable opponent as Covid-19 even if it has predominantly remained a disease most in its element among the poor in disadvantaged communities where poor hygiene is rife unlike Covid-19 which takes no prisoners. As per apocalyptic statistics from the NCDC, children are firmly in the eye of the storm whipped up by choleras choleric fury. The logic is painfully simple: children are particularly endangered because they are decidedly the most vulnerable demographic in Nigeria.
In Nigeria, it is poor sanitation, contaminated food and water and generally poor hygiene that stoke the wildfires that cholera quickly flare into. Overcrowded neighbourhoods, a lack of access to clean drinking water and poor sanitary facilities all make contributions.
Thus, every year, the country rakes in deaths, especially the deaths of women and children from a disease that is entirely preventable. This is disturbing beyond words. The question of access to clean water for example has always been at the core of Nigerias most pressing social issues. That so many Nigerians do not have access to clean water for their daily use remains one of Nigerias great scandals. Every day, in ways big and small, it continues to scar Nigerians and Nigeria as a country, putting shame to aspirations to become a developed country where citizens can at least boast of unfettered access to the basics of life.
The ignoble placing of the Giant of Africa atop the sickening pile of countries most affected by cholera was certainly helped by the urgency of the response to the Covid-19 pandemic. It certainly helped cholera`s cause that critical energy and attention were diverted from a disease that ensures it picks off a good number of Nigerians every year.
Nigeria is getting better but there can be no excuse. A public health system that is robust, responsive and responsible is one which ensures that it is always ready with the tools which make for a combative response to any disease or health challenge that threatens public life. That of Nigeria continues to be found wanting. As long as this remains the case, children will continue to die needlessly.
Kene Obiezu can be reached at Keneobiezu@gmail.com
