The member representing Ankpa 1 State Constituency, and the Deputy Majority Leader of the Kogi State House of Assembly, Honorable Ahmed Mohammed has called on Kogi State government to employ preventive measures in curbing the spread of meningitis to the state.
Addressing journalists after moving the motion of urgent public importance on the floor of the house titled “Outbreak of Meningitis: The Need to Curb The Spread and Stop Further Deaths”, he noted that Meningitis is mostly associated with over crowding, lack of ventilation and usually peak during the dry season between November and April, and that this recent Meningitis type is a new strand of Meningitis called Stereotype C, unlike the previous kind of Meningitis called Stereotype A, which has disappeared. As such the Vaccine that provides protection for this type of Meningitis is not commercially viable and needs to be acquired through a special process coordinated by the World Health Organization.
While calling on the Kogi state ministry of health and it’s various agencies/parastatals to work closely with the world health organisation in order to acquire sufficient vaccines needed to prevent it’s widespread to Kogi state. He also urge the ministry to carry out immunization of children and adults that are susceptible to the disease.
Recall that the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has confirmed the outbreak of Cerebro Spinal Meningitis (CSM) in five states with at least 340 deaths related to the disease, with Zamfara having the highest number of confirmed cases of 215, and death toll reached 336. (Published in Thisday Newspaper of Wednesday April 5, 2017), followed by Katsina with 32, Sokoto 19, Kebbi 10, and Niger 4 confirmed cases.
