FG seeks WHO support to combat Diphtheria outbreak
The Federal Government has sought assistance from the World Health Organisation (WHO) to address the outbreak of diphtheria in Bauchi, Kaduna, and Katsina states.
According to the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), there have been 836 confirmed cases of diphtheria in 33 Local Government Areas (LGAs) across eight states, with 83 reported deaths.
Executive Director of NPHCDA, Dr. Faisal Shuaib, emphasized the urgency of vaccination, especially for children, as a significant number of them remain unvaccinated or partially vaccinated.
In response, the WHO said it is working with NPHCDA to organize a vaccination campaign for children aged 0 to 14 years in four states, at an estimated cost of N92 million.
Additionally, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has requested the procurement of Diphtheria Antitoxin (DAT) and erythromycin IV for managing diphtheria cases.
The WHO is expected to deliver about 1,800 vials of DAT on August 2nd, with erythromycin to follow shortly afterward, subject to government authorization.
“These health commodities are essential for saving lives and reducing the sequelae in the affected patients, thus need to be prepositioned in the country and ready to be deployed to the states in need.
“This weekend NCDC requested support from WHO for the deployment of 18 rapid response teams to support Bauchi, Kaduna, and Katsina response.
“The deployment process is underway following the requested profile, and a mix of the workforce from the Nigeria Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Programme (NFELTP), Avoc-SURGE, and WHO staff will be used.
“WHO’s team is on the ground in Yobe and Kano, improving surveillance at health facility and community level, supporting the active case search, and assisting with the decentralised isolation centres and referral to the state reference treatment centres, in alignment with State Ministry of Health request and NCDC guidance.
“WHO is supporting the FCT in conducting an integrated Active Case Search and Household Sensitisation in FCT, optimising the opportunity for the fIPV + nOPV2 RI intensification campaign.
“WHO is supporting the procurement of laboratory commodities to increase the result turnaround time to support the case definition and management at an early stage,” he said.
While speaking on the emergency intervention against diphtheria outbreak, Shauib said the NPHCDA is currently collaborating with the affected state teams and other stakeholders to conduct intensified mass vaccinations for identified at-risk populations in the affected states, administering pentavalent and tetanus & diphtheria vaccines.
“Additionally, we are conducting awareness campaigns to educate the public about the disease, its symptoms, and preventive measures.
“The response to the ongoing diphtheria outbreak will be carried out in two phases. Phase 1, the immediate response, will encompass 25 Local Government Areas (LGAs) across four States: Bauchi, Katsina, Yobe, and Kaduna.
“This phase is scheduled to begin on the 7th of August 2023 and will continue until the 11th of August 2023.
“Phase 2 will cover outbreak response in 171 LGAs. Six States (Kano, Katsina, FCT, Yobe, Kaduna, and Bauchi) will have a state-wide outbreak response, while there will be targeted outbreak responses in LGAs across eight States: Jigawa (8 LGAs), Borno (4 LGAs), Osun (4 LGAs), Lagos (3 LGAs), Zamfara (3 LGAs), Gombe (3 LGAs), Plateau (1 LGA), and Nasarawa (1 LGA).
“This phase is planned to be conducted in three rounds. The first round will commence on 21st August 2023, followed by the second (2nd) and third (3rd) rounds tentatively set for 18th September 2023 and 16th October 2023, respectively. Each of these three rounds will span five days,” he added.
