Health

The Federal government has warned that the increasing level of flooding and continuous rainfall may worsen the spread of cholera in the country. The Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof Joseph Terlumum stated this while addressing a press conference on Thursday. According to him, a total of 63 deaths and 2,102 suspected cases have already been recorded as of Wednesday, July 3 2024 since the outbreak of the epidemic. This was in reaction to the flash flood caused by the incessant rainfalls experienced throughout the states and the nation’s capital, Abuja. Terlumum said the flood incidents recorded so far were flash/urban floods, resulting from high rainfall intensities of long and poor blocked drainage systems in the urban areas.

House of reps member, James Faleke representing (Ikeja Federal Constituency) has called on Nigerian government to deploy same level of energy they handled COVID-19 pandemic to tackle cholera outbreak in some parts of the country that is becoming pandemic. Mr Faleke made the call today during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos.

The Pharmacy Council of Nigeria, PCN, has shut down 531 medicine outlets in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for operating without registration, poor documentation, and stocking of ethical products without the supervision of a pharmacist. The Director of Enforcement, Stephen Esumobi, disclosed this to journalists in Abuja on Friday, noted that the council is working towards the use of technology to make drugs easily accessible to patients.

As Nigeria struggles to battle with the wave of cholera threatening many parts of the country, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, has called on state government authorities to end open defecation in their respective jurisdictions if the epidemic has to be managed. The Minister urged the state governments to prepare for a widespread orientation of the general public and push for a behavioural change that will discourage the populace from defecating in open spaces.

President Bola Tinubu has directed the Federal Executive Council, FEC, to set up a committee to oversee the cholera emergency operation centre operated by the National Centre For Disease Control, NCDC. The Minister of Health, Dr Ali Pate, disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents at the end of the council meeting presided over by the President at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja. He also disclosed that the cabinet committee would comprise members from the Federal Ministry of Health, Finance, Water Resources, Environment, Youth, Aviation and Education.

Taking cue from the Lagos state government, the Federal Government has banned the use of single-use plastics across all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs). Single-use plastic, popularly known as disposable plastic by this law and any other plastic item that is used once, and then thrown in the trash is hereby ban.