Tag: Meningitis

Meningitis: We need over $1bn to vaccinate 21m people in prone states – FG

The Federal Government on Tuesday said it needs more than one billion dollars for vaccines to eradicate meningitis epidemic in the five most affected states in the Northern region.

The Minister of Health, Prof. Issac Adewole, disclosed this while addressing an emergency meeting of the Northern Traditional Council and the 19 Northern state Governors in Kaduna.

TheNewsGuru.com reports that the meeting was convened by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, to outline measures to tackle the outbreak of meningitis epidemic in five states of the Northern region.

Adewole said that the federal government needed $1.087 billion to procure vaccines and administer on some 21 million persons against the meningitis which broke out in February in Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger and Katsina states.

He said the federal government had collaborated with the state governments and International development partners to tackle the outbreak in some 26 states so far affected in the country.

According to him, so far, 489 deaths had been confirmed in the 4,637 cases recorded as at April 10.

He said that among the cases, 171 were confirmed to be the Type `C’ of meningitis strand with Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina, Niger and Kebbi states as most affected.

He said that the so far 823,000 doses of conjugated type C had been delivered to the federal government by the UK government, while UNICEF had delivered over one million Type A vaccines.

The minister said the vaccines were enough to tackle the outbreak in the most affected states.

He appealed to the traditional rulers in the region to be more proactive with media and other forms of campaigns to sensitise people on the need for good hygiene and ventilation as well as avoid overcrowding in their homes.

Adewole, however, appealed to State Governments to increase their funding of the health sector to address the health challenges in the region.

He urged the governors to invest more funds to revitalise the health system in the northern states to tackle healthcare challenges.

He explained that the country needed to increase its funding from the $85 million to $378 million by 2025 to be able to meet up with the health challenges.

Adewole said the federal government had embarked on upgrading of 10,000 primary healthcare centres across the country.

The minister also urged state governments to tackle corruption among state officials to enable them strengthen the weak health system in the region.

“You must stop corruption, when funds are released, utilise the funds properly by tracking and proper monitoring.”

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum and Gov. Abdulazeez Yari of Zamfara said the state was worse hit by the meningitis due to lack of information for early detection.

He said the state had confirmed 216 deaths out of the 2,350 cases recorded in the state since the disease broke out.

Yari said the state had received 45,000 doses of vaccines and so far no new case had been detected in the last three days.

He said a high powered committee had been established by the governors and the traditional rulers to brief President Muhammadu Buhari on the measures being taken to stop the scourge in the region.

Representatives of WHO, UNICEF, DFID and NEMA, among others, attended the event.

April 12, 2017
Meningitis: LASG refutes reports of deaths

The Lagos State Ministry of Health yesterday refuted media reports alleging that two deaths attributed to meningitis have been recorded in the state.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, while reviewing the activities of the state government with regards to curtailing and controlling the spread of the meningitis epidemic in press statement dismissed the report as false, capable of causing undue panic among the citizenry

“The report carried by some newspapers and online platforms is untrue and does not represent the reality of the situation in Lagos State as at today”, he said. For the avoidance of doubt, there are two main types of meningitis. The epidemic prone meningitis which is referred to as Cerebro-spinal meningitis (CSM) is caused by a bacteria called Neisseria Meningitidis and its occurrence is seasonal or cyclical depending on the level of herd immunity and climatic conditions. The second type of meningitis is Non Epidemic Meningitis.

This type of neningitis is usually caused by a virus or other bacteria, but not by Neisseria Meningitidis. The Non-epidemic meningitis occurs without any seasonal pattern or periodicity . Idris also disclosed that though the Disease Surveillance Notification Officer, Lagos Island Local Govt reported nine suspected cases of meningitis from Massey Street Children Hospital in Week 13 of this year with two deaths, none of these was confirmed as due to the causative agent of CSM.

He further revealed that though all the nine cases presented with clinical features of meningitis at the said hospital but laboratory tests proved that they were either due to Haemophilus influenza or Streptococcus pneumoniae and not Neisseria meningitidis. Idris, in addition, said that the Ministry of Health was also notified last week of a three year old boy presenting clinically as meningitis at a registered private facility in Lagos but the laboratory investigations did not confirm CSM.

According to him ” the blood culture yielded no growth but the urine culture yielded Klebsiella and not meningococcus. The patient is already is responding to treatment” Idris affirmed that “none of these cases presented with a history of recent travel to any area with an outbreak of meningitis and neither were visits from such areas recorded with the aforementioned cases”.

Idris seized the opportunity to reiterate the Lagos State government’s firm resolve to prevent and control the spread of the epidemic to the state. He then urged the people of the state to support governmental effort by reporting suspected cases to the nearest public health facility or call the following lines 08037170614, 08023169485.

The Commissioner stressed the need for the observance of a high standard of personal and environmental hygiene as a preventive measure against the outbreak of the disease noting that such hygiene measures should include washing of hands with soap and water frequently and thoroughly, avoiding direct contact with the discharges from an infected person and covering of mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing.

“It is strongly advised for people to avoid overcrowding in living quarters, provide cross ventilation in sleeping and work-rooms and other places where many people come together and get vaccinated with CSM vaccine when you are travelling to areas where Meningitis outbreaks have been reported”, he added. Idris noted that health workers in the state have already been placed on red alert on the disease and surveillance teams consisting of epidemiologists are also intensifying their surveillance and monitoring activities.

“Health workers are also advised to avoid close and prolonged contacts with suspected and probable cases of CSM, ensure proper disposal of respiratory and throat secretions of cases, report suspected or probable cases and observe universal precaution and make use of personal protective equipment when in contact with such cases”. “There is no need to panic. We will continue with our surveillance activities, constantly review our records and brief the public from time to time”, he added.

April 9, 2017
Meningitis outbreak: Reps summons Health Minister

The House of Representatives on Thursday resolved to investigate Federal Government’s handling of the recent outbreak of Meningitis in parts of the country.

It has mandated its Committee on Healthcare Services to invite the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, to brief it on the ministry’s efforts combating the scourge.

The resolution followed the adoption of a motion entitled “Urgent Need to Curb the Scourge of Meningitis in Nigeria’’ sponsored by Rep. Johnson Oghuma (Edo-APC).

The committee was also mandated to ensure there was no scarcity of the vaccine to treat patients and report back to the house within two weeks.

Moving the motion earlier, Oghuma had expressed sadness with the developing, saying that the disease was ravaging parts of the country unchecked.

He said that the scourge had so far killed no fewer than 230 persons, with numerous others hospitalized.

The lawmaker condoled with families of victims of the disease and said that the extent of the spread of the scourge would have been minimized if adequate proactive measures were taken.

Oghuma said “the outbreak being an annual phenomenon, the Federal Ministry of Health ought to have been proactive to anticipate and put in plans to address it.

“This ravaging scourge of meningitis may not be over unless measures are taken to curb the spread,’’ he added.

NAN

April 6, 2017
Meningitis: Atiku urges more action, condoles with families

Former Vice President and chieftain of All Progressives Congress, Atiku Abubakar, has expressed concern on the high death toll so far recorded this year following the outbreak of Cerebro Spinal Meningitis (CSM) in parts of the country.

In a statement issued by his media office in Abuja on Thursday, Atiku called for concerted efforts to forestall further spread of the disease and attendant deaths.

The former vice president described as worrisome the death toll, which currently stands at 366.

“I understand that the heat-induced illness which causes the swelling of the outer part of the brain has also affected 2,996 cases in 16 states and 54 local government areas.

“For me it implies a lot of effort is required to stop these deaths,” Atiku said.

He also called on the international community and donor agencies to come to Nigeria’s aid on the grounds that “it is an emergency situation”.

Besides, the APC chieftain urged relevant agencies of government to take precautionary measures to ensure that preventive measures were in place in states prone to the health challenge.

He also called for serious inter-agency collaboration involving the Ministries of Health, Housing, Environment, Information, metrological agency as well as the National Primary Health Care Development Agency and Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.

According to him, the inter-agency collaboration would lead to the development of a comprehensive preventive and treatment master-plan that would ensure that the carnage recorded in 2017 is avoided in future.

The former vice president also called for sustained research on the ailment to avoid new challenges being experienced in treating victims of the outbreak of meningitis this year.

Atiku further called for appropriate budgetary allocations by government at all levels, to ensure the availability of funds for early procurement of vaccines and other items needed for better medical response to outbreaks.

He also appealed for a preventive package that includes a robust enlightenment and educative programme on the disease.

“The package should clearly explain how the disease should be avoided; signs of contracting the disease as well as what to do when there is such an outbreak,’’ he said.

He said by providing the enlightenment and educative programmes, individuals and families would become part of efforts to kick meningitis out of Nigeria.

The APC stalwart said that traditional rulers and religious leaders should be part of the campaign since they are closer to the people, especially in the rural areas.

Atiku prayed for the repose of the souls of those who died from the outbreak of the disease and the quick recovery of those receiving treatment.

He also prayed that God gives the bereaved families the fortitude to bear the loss of their loved ones.

NAN

April 6, 2017
Leave God out of Meningitis outbreak, blame APC, Makarfi tells Yari

The Senator Ahmed Makarfi faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has told Governor of Zamafara State, Abdulaziz Yari, to hold his party, the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC responsible for the outbreak of Cerebrospinal Meningitis in the country, and not God.

Makarfi said this in a statement released by the spokesman of the faction, Prince Dayo Adeyeye.

The statement reads: “The news of the outbreak of Cerebrospinal Meningitis in the country and the apathetic attitude of both the Zamfara State and Federal Government to curtail the scourge is disheartening and preposterous.

“This Government wasted so much funds on the State House Clinic with no tangible result but neglected other health centers and clinics across the country that have capacities to manage the health challenges of other Nigerians. For the record, the primary responsibility of any government is to protect the lives and property of its citizens and the APC-led Government has remained insensitive, careless and adamant to the plight of Nigerians in all ramifications.

“As of Tuesday, April 4, 2017, about 336 Nigerians have lost their lives due to the outbreak of type C Cerebrospinal Meningitis and the Federal Ministry of Health has not taken any concrete step to contend with the spread. It is on record that the PDP Government in sixteen years did not allow such mindless display of insensitivity as seen by this APC administration.

“More worrisome is the statement credited to the Governor of Zamfara State, Alh. Abdulaziz Yari in which he attributed the outbreak of Meningitis to God’s making. This is shameful and very unfortunate as the APC has run out of reasons to blame previous PDP administration but it’s now blaming God for its failures.

“Governor Yari should not blame God for his failures but that of his party, the APC, to avoid incurring God’s anger on their crass ineptitude in governance. However, we wish to advise him to resign immediately for making such statement as a state Governor and the Chairman of Governors Forum who is supposed to bring hope to the people and not despair.

“Finally, we call on the Federal Government of Nigeria to stop playing politics with this outbreak and do everything within its power to end the menace. As a party, our heart goes to the families of all those that lost their lives to the scourge within this period. We urge all Nigerians to drink more water, sleep in a ventilated environment and report symptoms to the nearest health center within their areas for quick medical attention.”

TheNewsGuru.com reports that Governor Yari had on Tuesday while reacting to the outbreak of the disease said God was punishing Nigerians for their lifestyle with the disease.

April 6, 2017
Meningitis: 1,400 inmates vaccinated in Bauchi

The Bauchi State Primary Health Care Development Agency has vaccinated 1,400 inmates and 240 prisons’ staff against Cerebra Spinal Meningitis (CSM).

Mr Adamu Gamawa, the Chairman of the agency, made this known in Bauchi on Thursday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
According to him, the proactive measure is to prevent the occurrence of the disease among prison inmates in view of the congestion in the prisons.

He said that the measure would be replicated in similar public facilities to prevent the spread of the disease.

The chairman said that the agency had requested for more vaccines from the National Primary Health Care Agency to scale up preventive measures.

April 6, 2017
Meningitis: All diseases come from Allah, Yari insists

Zamfara Governor, Dr. Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar, has issued a statement to debunk media reports stating that he said outbreak of the deadly Cerebral Spinal Meningitis which has killed over 300 Nigerians is as a result of God’s punishment arising from fornication and other sinful acts.

In a statement issued by his media aide, Yari however insisted that all diseases come from Allah while urging Nigerians to move close to God.

Speaking through his Special Adviser on Media and Public Enlightenment, Mr. Ibrahim Magaji Dosara, the Governor said he urged Nigerians to move closer to God as he insisted that all diseases come from Allah.

“The Governor noted that the situation was unfortunate because the state does not have enough vaccines yet for the Type C Meningitis.

“The governor thereafter enjoined all Nigerians to embrace prayers, as God who is aware of the outbreak of the ailment surely has the antidote for it.

“The Governor specially appealed to Nigerians to make a deliberate effort to be closer to God by shunning sins of fornication and other forms of disobedience so as to receive his divine health and other blessings, as he is closer to those who obey him and distant themselves from sins.

“No doubt, as a God-fearing man, and a Muslim, the governor believes in the powers of Allah to inflict whatever punishment He decides on the human race.”

“The governor added for example, that fornication “should not spread so much in society that it becomes common place and if that happens, Allah promises to inflict, on its perpetrators (people) a sickness that would have no cure.”However, the governor who spoke in Hausa had a particular audience in mind when he spoke to the BBC Hausa reporter.

“Let it be known too that the governor still insists that all diseases come from Allah and that at no point in his interaction with the reporters did he insinuate that Allah was punishing Nigerians but instead drew from the teachings of great Islamic traditions to buttress the point he was trying to convey.

“This is exactly what the Governor said. But because some people are out there to ridicule him at the slightest opportunity and make a mountain out of a molehill with a view to tarnishing his rising reputation, the innocuous statement was misinterpreted and quoted out of context for reasons best known to the authors.

“We, therefore, use this medium to appeal to all well-meaning Nigerians to ignore the story making the round and condemn the act of unethical practice by those disseminating the deceptive story.

[Read Also:] “Meningitis is caused by bacteria, not sin” | Ben-Bruce replies Gov Yari

“For the avoidance of doubt, the Zamfara State Government in conjunction with relevant federal government agencies is making frantic effort to contain the outbreak of meningitis in the state by taking immediate steps to secure appropriate vaccines for the latest health challenge.

“Let it be on record that the state under the leadership of Governor, Abdulaziz Abubakar Yari will not abandon the wellbeing of the people, who elected him to pilot the affairs of the state for any other thing.

“As the saying goes, health is wealth, and the administration will not settle for anything apart from vigorously pursuing the overall well-being of Zamfara people,” he said.

April 6, 2017
FG dismisses Yari’s claims on Meningitis, says ‘nature caught us off guard’

The Federal Government says the outbreak of `Type C’ form of Cerebro-spinal Meningitis (CSM) in some parts of the country has nothing to do with moral or spiritual lifestyles of Nigerians.

The Minister of State for Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, stated this after the meeting of the Federal Executive Council, which was presided by President Muhammadu Buhari.

TheNewsGuru.com reports that Yari had on Tuesday said the outbreak of Type C Cerebrospinal Meningitis in the country was a direct punishment from God to the people of Nigeria for their various sinful acts. The statement had elicited criticisms from different quarters.

“The Federal Government does not have views of that nature‎ and I am not sure the state government can really continue to make that statement.

“When things happen; yes you can begin to look at many ways for possible causes.

“But like I said, nature played us an unfortunate stroke; that is not to say we committed sin or anything.

“It does happen in this World that things occur out of the blues.’’

The minister noted that there had been a very robust response of the ministry and the affected state governments in collaboration with the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control, Nigeria Primary Health Care Development Agencies, the World Health Organisation, UNICEF; as well as other partners.

He allayed the fears of Nigerians about the ministry’s response on the outbreak of the virus, adding that already 500,000 doses of vaccines were being distributed to the affected states.

“Government is also getting 826,000 units which are being shipped‎ from Europe to us within the next few days.

“The most affected states have been Zamfara, Sokoto and Katsina and together they have about 85 per cent of the cases. As of today, there have been 2,996 cases in 16 states and 64 local governments.

“There have been 336 fatalities of which 141 have been confirmed by laboratory tests.

“There is reactive ‎vaccinations going on already; there is social mobilisation going on, teams are working in the affected states.

“So in other to allay the fears of Nigerians, we want to make it clear that this is not a sign of failure of the system‎, it is a fact that nature played a very different stroke this time that caught everybody off guard.”

He announced that two treatment centres were being set up in every local government and lumber puncture kits had also been distributed so that doctors could take samples to laboratories for testing.

April 6, 2017
Fornication, other sins made God send Meningitis to punish Nigerians – Gov. Yari

Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State has said that the outbreak of Type C Cerebrospinal Meningitis in the country was a direct punishment from God to the people of Nigeria for their various sinful acts.

Zamfara State Governor, Alhaji Abdul’aziz Abubakar Yari He said that God had always sent strange illnesses which had no cure to torment the people for turning their back on Him.

Yari whose State appeared to be worst hit by the disease spoke with State House Correspondents at the presidential Villa Abuja after a private meeting with President Muhammdu Buhari on Tuesday.

Reports say that over 200 persons had dead while several others are receiving treatment at various hospitals and clinics.

The scary situation had also prompted some Medical Doctors under the aegis of Nigeria Medical Association, Zamfara state chapter to accuse the state government of not being proactive despite some warning.

Yari said: “What we used to know as far as meningitis is concerned is the type A virus. The World Health Organization, WHO, has carried out vaccinations against this type A virus not just in Zamfara, but many other states.

“However, because people refused to stop their nefarious activities, God now decided to send Type C virus, which has no vaccination. “People have turned away from God and he has promised that ‘if you do anyhow, you see anyhow’ that is just the cause of this outbreak as far as I am concerned.

“There is no way fornication will be so rampant and God will not send a disease that cannot be cured.”

The governor who dismissed insinuations of non proactiveness by his government however said that he had called an emergency meeting of all stakeholders, ranging top state and local government officials to traditional rulers to address the issue, saying that “the meeting came out with a strategy to be adopted and the money required to deal with the outbreak and a lot of work is going on”.

According to Yari, only 5 million dose of the vaccine against the Type C virus was available globally. He said that the dosage would not be enough for his state. He however stated that Federal Ministry of Health has only 50,000 doses of the vaccine, out of which 20,000 was given state.

He said: “That is not enough for Zamfara people alone, not to talk of Katsina or Kano. “Our Focus as a state now is to continue treating those who are infected with the disease, but as for vaccination, it has an international dimension.

“We have information that Nigeria will get the highest percentage of the 5 million doses available now. Apart from WHO, other International bodies such as the Bill Gates foundation and UNICEF are also currently focusing on how to tackle the outbreak”. As a solution to the problem, Yari asked the people to repent from their sinful ways and embraced God, expressing optimism that the epidemic would be tackled.

“The most important thing is for our people to know that their relationship with God is not smooth. All they need to do is repent and everything will be all right”, he said. Reacting to a question of whether it was only the people and not the leaders that needed repentance, Yari exonerated the leaders, saying there were only the messengers.

“Leaders are doing their best by enlightening the populace and working assiduously for the good of all. “Your major assignment as a leader is to convey the message; you cannot go from house to House and arrest offenders for instance,” he said

April 5, 2017
Meningitis: Death toll rises to 336

A total of 2,997 suspected cases of Cerebrospinal Meningitis have been reported in 16 States in Nigeria as at April 3, the Federal Government said on Tuesday.

Out of this figure, 146 have been confirmed by the laboratory, while 336 deaths have also been recorded.

The government said 823,970 doses of Meningitis C vaccines were being expected from the United Kingdom to support vaccination activities in other affected States.

The government had despatched what it called Outbreak Control Team, made up of local and foreign medical experts to Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi, Katsina and Niger States, all in the North West, where there had been outbreak of Cerebrospinal Meningitis.

A statement issued in Abuja by the Technical Assistant (Communication) in NCDC, Dr. Lawal Bakare, also announced that the government has activated an Emergency Operations Centre to manage the ongoing outbreak of Cerebrospinal Meningitis in five States North West

The EOC exercise was achieved through the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, all parastatals under the Federal Ministry of Health and their partners.

Bakare said, “As at April 3, 2017, a total of 2,997 suspected cases of CSM have been reported in 16 States in Nigeria, of which 146 have been laboratory–confirmed. Unfortunately, 336 deaths have also been recorded.

“We are confident that we have turned the tide, and with increasing vaccination activities, expect a reduction in number of cases. Importantly, lessons learned from this outbreak will help the country prepare for the future. A situation report is attached.”

April 4, 2017