Eleven people have died following an outbreak of diphtheria in Chanchaga and Katcha Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Niger State, the Niger State Primary Health Care Development Agency (NSPHCDA) has disclosed.
The Executive Director of the agency, Dr Junaidu Inuwa, disclosed this while giving an update on the spread of the disease in the state.
Inuwa attributed the rising fatalities partly to the refusal of some parents and guardians to allow their children to receive routine vaccinations.
He warned that the number of cases could increase if urgent measures were not taken to address misconceptions surrounding immunisation and encourage parents to embrace vaccination as a preventive measure against childhood diseases.
The agency boss spoke during a two-day capacity-building workshop on Strengthening Ward Development Committees (WDCs) on Community Engagement and Accountability to Affected Population (AAP), organised by the NSPHCA in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Minna.
He said the training was aimed at ensuring that community structures were adequately engaged, empowered and equipped with the knowledge required to prevent diseases.
“Most parents are not immunising their children, and the community structure needed to do a lot for us to change erroneous impressions about immunisation,” Inuwa said.
He disclosed that the outbreak had particularly affected Chanchaga and Katcha LGAs, adding that the situation required urgent community-level intervention.
“I am sure most of you are aware that recently we have an outbreak of some diseases in Chanchaga and Katcha LGAs. There are 10 cases and all of them died. We even lost another patient on Tuesday at the Minna General Hospital,” he said.
Inuwa urged members of the WDCs to prioritise early childhood education and intensify community mobilisation to ensure that mothers and caregivers take their children for routine immunisation.
He said stronger community participation was necessary to address misinformation and improve uptake of vaccines.
Also speaking, the Social and Behavioural Change Specialist, UNICEF Kaduna Field Office, Ibrahim Mohammed, said the capacity-building programme was designed to strengthen the ability of community structures to support healthcare interventions.
Mohammed said the programme covered health, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), nutrition, child protection and education.
“We are looking at an integrative approach to healthcare services across the community,” he said.
Available figures showed that 17 deaths had been recorded among 124 confirmed diphtheria cases in Niger State between January and early August.
The state has also recorded treatment and discharge of 74 patients from focal areas in Bida and Agaie LGAs, while surveillance activities were ongoing in Suleja LGA.
Health authorities urged communities to support vaccination campaigns and promptly seek medical attention for suspected cases as efforts continue to contain the outbreak.
