Tag ZamfaraCholera

Zamfara agency constructs 35 boreholes in cholera affected communities

Boreholes
By Tosin Kolade
Zamfara, Feb. 7, 2019 (NAN) Alhaji Sani Yaro, the Programme Manager, Zamfara Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA), says no fewer than 35 hand pump boreholes have been constructed in cholera affected communities in the state.

Yaro told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on sidelines of a WASH in Emergency Working Group Monitoring and Assessment visit on cholera to the state on Thursday.

He said that with support from development partners, latrines had been constructed in schools and health facilities for communities to stop open defecation practice and encourage Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) interventions.

According to him, open defecation is a major factor predisposing communities to preventable diseases and deaths, saying this became necessary to forestall further spread of cholera and other preventable diseases.

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“We also have WASH Emergency interventions with the support of donors; UNICEF and DFID, in 2018, precisely in December, we were given approval to construct 35 new hand-pump boreholes in cholera affected communities, and at the same time, 80 broken down hand pump boreholes were rehabilitated through this support, as well as five solar-motorised boreholes.

“We are establishing and training WASH committees in all these cholera affected communities, and we are implementing this project in six LGAs in the state, they are the Sanitation, Hygiene and Water in Nigeria (SHAWN) selected LGAs, namely; Birnin-Magaji, Talata Mafara, Bakura, Tsafe, Shinkafi and Maru, like last year, we have intervened in 100 schools, we provided boreholes and sanitation facilities as well as 50 health facilities.’’

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He noted that the agency was partnering with UNICEF and the Department for International Development to see that Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Intervention was evident in the state.

He said that the agency had set up an Emergency Operations Centre in partnership with the State Emergency Management Agency to provide information and response to humanitarian needs of Internally Displaced Persons.

“We are partnering with the state Emergency Management Agency, anytime there are IDPs in the state, they quickly intimate us, we carry out hygiene promotion, we also do latrines, there are some smart toilets introduced through sanitation marketing, which are very easy to construct, in a day, you can construct up to 10 toilets.

“My state is ready to pay its counterpart funding, but we want the Federal Government to consider the state, following the state having the highest cholera cases, it will be good for donors coming through the Federal Ministry of Water Resources to consider the state in its selection, so that we will further collaborate effectively and eradicate those diseases.’’

He listed challenges of poor funds, inadequate resources to construct toilets, saying the state has trained WASH committees in the cholera affected communities, to pass the message of Nhygiene forward.

He said that rehabilitation of 80 hand pump boreholes and five boreholes had been done to help in scaling up interventions to meet the sanitation and hygiene needs of the communities.

The programme manager said that the agency had also carried out social mobilisation and awareness by triggering 105 communities on community led total sanitation for people to end open defecation practice.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the WASH in Emergency Working Group was established in 2012 when the country experienced serious devastating flood that affected 85milion people from 14 states.

The group has since remained active, especially in the North-East where IDPs exist and have responded immediately to outbreaks.

The group membership cuts across WASH sector players from Institutions, Development Partners, International and Local NGOs, CSOs responding to WASH issues in the North East, with UNICEF as its co-lead. (NAN)
TAK/GY
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Edited by Grace Yussuf

Cholera
By Tosin Kolade
Zamfara, Feb. 6, 2019 (NAN) The Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in Emergency Working Group says no fewer than 130 people died of cholera in the state in 2018, calling on Zamfara government to halt the outbreak.

The Team Lead of the group, Mr Baba Galadima made this known while on a Cholera Assessment and Monitoring visit to Zamfara on Wednesday.

Galadima said that the state needed to reduce cholera deaths by 90 per cent as it was a major public health concern.

According to him, a report from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control shows that no fewer than 44,201 suspected cases with more than 836 deaths have so far been reported from 204 LGAs in 20 states in 2018.

“Cholera continues to hit communities around our country, Zamfara state currently faces the largest cholera outbreaks with over 8,331 suspected cases and more than 130 deaths reported as at December 2018.

“Over 186 people have died of cholera in Katsina State since beginning of 2018, and about 100 from Sokoto State, while Kebbi State reported over 100 cases with few deaths.’’

He described cholera as a disease of inequity which sickens and kills only the poorest and most vulnerable people, saying “the map of cholera is essentially the same as a map of poverty.’’

He stressed that cholera could be controlled with a multi-sector approach, including basic water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services, and oral cholera vaccines (OCV), saying health intervention alone would not solve it.

Galadima noted that death from cholera was preventable with the tools Nigeria has today, stressing the goal of ending its public health impact was within reach.

He also called for budgetary allocation for sanitation and hygiene, adding that the Federal Government said it would not be business as usual, that states must begin to contribute.

Alhaji Sani Yaro, the Programme Manager, Zamfara Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA), noted that the agency had set up an Emergency Operations Centre to provide information and response to humanitarian needs.

He listed challenges of poor funds, inadequate resources to construct toilets, saying the state had trained WASH committees in the cholera affected communities to pass the message of hygiene forward.

While commending UNICEF for intervention, Yaro said that 35 new boreholes had been constructed in in selected cholera communities.

He said that rehabilitation of 80 hand pump boreholes and five boreholes had been provided to help in scaling up interventions to meet the sanitation and hygiene needs of the communities.

The programme manager said that the agency had also carried out social mobilisation and awareness by triggering 105 communities on community-led total sanitation for people to end open defecation practice.

Yaro pledged the commitment of the state to pay its counterpart funds for sanitation and hygiene scale-up, noting that this was already being provided partly.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the WASH in Emergency Working Group was established in 2012, when the country experienced serious devastating flood that affected 85milion people from 14 states.

The group has since remained active, especially in the North-East where IDPs exist and have responded immediately on outbreaks.

The group membership cuts across WASH sector players from Institutions, Development Partners, International and Local NGOs, CSOs responding to WASH issues in the North East, with UNICEF as its co-lead. (NAN)
TAK/GY
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Edited by Grace Yussuf