The Cholera outbreak is getting worse, as confirmed by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). The disease has now spread to 33 states, causing 63 deaths. Dr. Jide Idris, the NCDC Director General, held a press conference in Abuja yesterday. He said that compared to the previous report from June 24, the number of affected states has risen from 31 to 33, with deaths increasing from 54 to 63.
Dr. Idris mentioned that 10 states—Lagos, Bayelsa, Abia, Zamfara, Bauchi, Katsina, Cross River, Ebonyi, Rivers, and Delta—make up about 90% of the cases.
The National Cholera Multisectoral Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) is now active. Experts are working together daily to coordinate efforts and provide updates to everyone involved. They are making sure resources are shared and used effectively in the affected states. This includes coordination, tracking cases, treating patients, preventing infections, communicating risks, engaging with communities, ensuring clean water and hygiene, providing vaccines, managing logistics, and researching the disease.
Dr. Idris is hopeful that these efforts will help in quick communication, data analysis, decision-making, resource deployment, better patient treatment, and increasing public awareness.
Before the EOC was activated, the NCDC’s Cholera Technical Working Group checked the preparedness of 22 high-risk states and found some gaps. They reported these gaps to the states to improve their readiness.
Dr. Idris urged everyone—government agencies, local actors, partners, civil society groups, healthcare workers, community leaders, and citizens—to increase their efforts to control the spread of cholera and save lives. He reminded health workers to always follow safety precautions, like wearing gloves, and to report suspected cholera cases quickly.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives is also taking action. They are urging both federal and state governments to implement measures to control the cholera outbreak. They have instructed their Healthcare Services Committee to work with health sector stakeholders to investigate the outbreak’s cause and report back within two weeks.
The House has raised concerns about the outbreak and tasked its Committees on Information, National Orientation, Ethics, and Values to educate the public on personal hygiene.
This came after a motion by Minority Leader Kingsley Chinda and others about the urgent need to control the cholera spread in Lagos and other parts of the country. Chinda emphasized that the outbreak is a serious public health issue. The NCDC reports cases in Lagos and 30 other states, including Abia, Bayelsa, Bauchi, Cross River, Delta, Imo, Nasarawa, Katsina, and Zamfara.
Chinda expressed worry about the fast spread of the disease, especially since the government has run out of vaccines. He stressed the urgent need for the government to act quickly to stop the disease from spreading further, as it poses a major threat to public health.
