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Continued from Page 1 – Nigeria: Meningitis Again
The government ought to be preparing for it annually,
since it is an illness whose causes and season of outbreak
are well-known. An emphasis on prevention through a
well-coordinated enlightenment campaign could have
saved many of those currently groaning in pain over the
neck-stiffing scourge. The current efforts of the National
Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to contain the
epidemic in the North-East would have made greater
impact if it had come earlier, by way of a preventive
campaign.
Governors of states within the traditional Meningitis zone
should have come together since the initial outbreak in
November, last year and synergized towards a combined
effort to fight its spread. To this end, they could have
embarked on immediate immunization exercises in all
communities prone to the outbreak. Apart from giving the
all-important advice on sleeping in an airy environment
and stopping overcrowding in rooms, a special clean up
campaign should have been embarked upon by these
states. Sanitation exercises in order to rid our dirty streets
of their never-ending rubbish heaps and fetid gutters
should have been a priority of the states' health and
environment ministries.
As an air and water- borne disease, Meningitis will
certainly find a fertile breeding ground in dirt, a factor
which is not in short supply all over the country. With our
inability to stop it before it struck, we are left with no
option but to try and contain the scourge before it spreads
too far. Towards containment, the federal government
must make the vaccines available for general
immunization so that both communities where the disease
has manifested and where it has not will be immunized
against it.
Already in Kano state, where 278 cases were recorded in
28 out of its 44 local governments, the critical problem
facing health workers is shortage of necessary vaccines
from the federal ministry of health. The Minister of
Health should note this and send the needed supplies with
dispatch. More and more health workers should be
trained to diagnose the various type of Meningitis and
know the appropriate treatment for each. Correct
diagnosis can lesson the pain of the disease on patients
and hopefully also limit fatalities.
In the meantime, there is the urgent need to start a
massive media campaign to enlighten people on ways to
guard against contracting the disease. Radio and
television jingles should urge people to avoid
overcrowding, practice personal hygiene, boil water
before drinking and be familiar with the earliest
symptoms of Meningitis. They should be told to immediately
seek medical attention when these symptoms
are noticed. In babies and little children where the
symptoms may resemble other childhood diseases, mothers
should be told to take any serious symptom on their infants
to the hospital.
While hoping that all hands will be on deck to deal with the
current Meningitis epidemic, Daily Trust advises both
federal and state governments to, in future, take necessary
measures to prevent another outbreak of the disease rather
than run helter-skelter trying to treat an epidemic.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200902240404.html
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Nigeria: WHO - Serious
Outbreak of Meningitis Hits
Country
THISDAY
30 March 2009
Lagos — World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that a
"serious" outbreak of meningitis has hit the northern part of
Nigeria.
A statement issued by WHO, a copy of which was made
available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on
Saturday said that, "some 17,500 cases had been registered
and 960 people had already died of the disease".
The statement said that although the states most affected
were Bauchi, Gombe, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara States,
"the epidemic has also hit other states in northern part of
the country hard."
It also stated that vaccination campaigns were underway,
with the support of UNICEF and other NGOs .
According to the statement, the UN health agency is
supporting the Nigerian Health Ministry's efforts to boost
disease surveillance, with technical experts on ground since
last month.
Aong with its partners, the statement said WHO had
released 2.3 million doses of vaccines to Nigeria. It,
however, noted that, "nearly 13 million doses were
stockpiled for 2009, but more are needed for this meningitis
season which will run from January through June".
Meanwhile, WHO has also reported an outbreak of the
disease in Niger Republic with 4,513 cases and 169 deaths.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200903300151.html
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2--Traditional African Clinic – May 2009