8 die in Anambra cholera outbreak
(Nigeria) No fewer than eight of 25 cases of cholera
recorded in Anambra State in January 2015 have died, the state Commissioner for
Health, Dr Joe Akabuike, has said.
Akabuike said this in Awka on Tuesday while receiving drugs
and hospital equipment donated by a pharmaceutical company based in Lagos.
He said that the cholera outbreak recorded in Innoma
Community in Anambra West Local Government Area of the state was already under
control.
The commissioner said that a team of doctors and nurses were
immediately deployed to the area as soon as the outbreak was reported.
``We discovered that it was not a full blown cholera but
gastroenteritis common in children under five years. Gastroenteritis is an
infection of the intestines which causes diarrhoea. In most cases the infection
clears within a few days, but sometimes it takes longer,’’ he said.
Akabuike said the government had also received drugs and
hospital equipment worth about 2 billion dollars from many donor agencies and
indigenes of the state since the inception of the present administration.
He commended the donors for the gesture and pledged to use
the items judiciously for the wellbeing of the people.
Akabuike said the security measures put in place by Gov.
Willie Obiano had attracted a lot of investments to the state.
The commissioner said that the government had recently
donated N428 million to mission hospitals in the state to boost healthcare
delivery.
In her remarks, the Human Resources Manager and Operations
of the pharmaceutical company, Miss Ruth Harrison, pledged to partner with the
government toward the development of the state.
Harrison said the drugs were for malaria and cholera
patients, adding that the donation was part of efforts to be part of the
success stories in the state.
Comments
Post a Comment