From Tongnaan Bawa Jos
Plateau State has recorded 543 suspected cholera cases and 18 deaths since the outbreak began in July, with Mangu and Jos North Local Government Areas identified as the worst affected.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Nicholas Baamlong, disclosed this while speaking on the government’s response to the outbreak and the ongoing oral cholera vaccination campaign across affected communities.
Baamlong said 31 of the suspected cases were confirmed through Rapid Diagnostic Tests, while six others were confirmed through culture. He added that the state currently has no cholera patient on admission, indicating that the outbreak has been brought under control.
According to him, the state government responded by providing drugs, medical consumables, intravenous fluids and antibiotics, while also taking responsibility for the treatment bills of patients admitted to health facilities.
He said the government equally deployed sanitation teams to affected communities to improve environmental hygiene and ensure access to clean water.
The Commissioner said the intervention of development partners and the National Primary Health Care Development Agency had also strengthened the state’s response through the provision of oral cholera vaccines.
He explained that health workers were currently conducting vaccination and mobilisation activities, particularly in Mangu and Jos North.
Baamlong said he personally monitored the exercise in Jos North and Mangu, where he observed strong community participation.
He noted that more than 300 people received the vaccine in Mangu during one of the monitoring visits, while community leaders, including the District Head of Mangu and his title chiefs, were engaged to encourage residents to participate.
He said the vaccination campaign was being complemented by public sensitisation, disease surveillance and health education through the State Primary Health Care Board and the state epidemiological and surveillance units.
In Jos North, the Local Immunisation Officer, Nimnan Zingzhi, said the five-day vaccination exercise, which entered its final day on Monday, recorded significant participation across the local government’s 20 wards.
Zingzhi said the local government targeted about 731,000 residents, comprising children and adults from one year of age to those aged 100 years and above.
He disclosed that about 695,000 people had already been vaccinated, with mop-up activities and house-to-house vaccination planned to reach elderly residents and others who were unable to access designated vaccination points.
He attributed the high level of acceptance to the cooperation and confidence of community leaders, who he said helped mobilise residents and dispel concerns about the exercise.
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At Kabong, a ward focal person, Lami Paul, said the area, which comprises 146 settlements, recorded only a few cases of vaccine hesitancy. She, however, cited an instance where a woman declined to receive the vaccine but permitted her children to be vaccinated.
Some beneficiaries also encouraged residents to take advantage of the free vaccination exercise.
One beneficiary, Arin Jonathan, said he encouraged colleagues who initially expressed reservations about the vaccine after hearing claims that it could be harmful, describing such concerns as misinformation.
Another resident of Rukuba Road, Ifeoma Okafor, said she voluntarily received the vaccine and also had her son vaccinated despite having no personal or household history of cholera.
Okafor urged residents to take responsibility for their health by being mindful of what they consume and participating in preventive health programmes provided by the government.
Baamlong appealed to Plateau residents to embrace the vaccination campaign and sustain basic hygiene practices, stressing that prevention, surveillance and early intervention remain critical to avoiding another cholera outbreak.
Our correspondent reports that while at the Joseph Gomwalk Secretariat, civil servants were seen receiving the vaccine at the gate on the point of entry without being persuaded to avoid the disease and remain healthy to discharge their various responsibilities at work.