Sokoto State Govt treats 10,000 CSM, malaria patients in 9 days – Commissioner
Sokoto State Govt treats 10,000 CSM, malaria patients in 9 days – Commissioner
NAN-HG-5
Treatment
By Bashir Rabe Mani
Sokoto, March 29,2017 (NAN) The Sokoto State Government says it has treated no fewer than 10,000 Cerebro Spinal Meningitis (CSM) and malaria patients from March 20 to date.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the state government declared a state of high alert on the health sector following the outbreak of an uncommon strain of CSM.
The State Health Commissioner, Dr Balarabe Kakale, disclosed this to NAN in Sokoto on Wednesday when he gave an update on the declaration.
Kakale stated that the patients were mostly treated in the seven worst hit local government areas of Rabah, Kebbe, Tureta, Gada, Dange/Shuni, Wamakko and Bodinga.
He said: “The patients were treated in the 23 local governments of the state, in General Hospitals and Primary Health Care Centres.
“They were treated of mixed cases of both meningitis and malaria, with some pockets of other minor ailments.
“The state government had since then deployed 15 medical teams across the state and they have been working with others deployed by the local governments.”
Kakale also said that the teams have ambulances, free drugs and vaccines, medical doctors, nurses and medical laboratory scientists, among others.
He further said that the Ministry of Health was collaborating with those of Education, Local Governments and Religious Affairs, to contain the situation.
“We are collaborating with the Ministry of Education and we have issued the standard operating procedures for schools.
“This is to prevent the various primary and secondary schools from getting afflicted with the meningitis epidemic.
“We are also collaborating with the Religious Affairs Ministry to prevent the myriad of Qur’anic and Islamiya Schools from same,” the commissioner said.
Kakale further stated that the state government has commenced massive immunisation of children and adults against meningitis.
He assured that the measure would be sustained until all the targeted number of children and adults were fully immunised.
Kakale expressed happiness that the situation has been brought under total control, with the mortalities going down across the state.
“We will not relent in our efforts to completely mitigate the epidemic,” the commissioner said.
NAN recalls that Kakale had on March 27 put the death toll caused by the meningitis epidemic at 23.
NAN however recalls that four more mortalities were confirmed on March 28 by the Chairman of Rabah Local Government Council.
The Supervisory Councillor for Health in the area, Alhaji Abubakar Gwaddodi, and the Officer in charge of the Rabah General Hospital, Mr Abubakar Bala, on Wednesday also confirmed two additional deaths. (NAN)
BRM/MST
Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola