DESCRIBED in health circles as an extremely virulent disease, cholera is sweeping through Nigeria once again. In the latest episode, the disease has killed 70 persons, mostly children and women, in a camp for internally-displaced persons in Bali, Taraba State, North-East of the country. Every year, cholera, which is caused by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, kills scores of people in Nigeria. For a country just emerging from the outbreak of the deadly Ebola Virus Disease that killed eight people, the latest cholera attack is a serious concern for our fragile, under-equipped and poorly-manned health system. According to media reports, the outbreak in the Bali IDPs camp is worsened by the abysmal response of the government. Since the government is aware of the presence of the camp, urgent measures must be deployed to contain the disease before it wreaks further havoc. More than 80 Nigerians, who were said to have fled the Boko Haram Islamist insurgency in the North-East to Cameroon, are also reported to have died of cholera in their refugee camps in the Central African country. “Life here in the camp (Bali) can simply be described as hell on earth. Since the outbreak of communal violence in Taraba State that necessitated the creation of this camp, we have lost more than 70 people to two child-killer diseases of cholera and measles, and malnutrition and unhealthy conditions,” Emmanuel Kegh, the spokesman for the refugees, stated. As it is, preventing further casualties should be the priority of all stakeholders in the health sector. Although cholera is a global health threat, it has its greatest impact in countries where social development is scanty and infrastructure deficient. It is acute where there is inadequate access to safe drinking water as well as poor sanitation and hygiene. In Nigeria, where cholera killed 86 persons in 2013 out of 1,623 cases of infection in 28 local government areas in nine states, the rainy season, which is a harbinger of floods, exacerbates the onset of transmission. This is because all Nigerian towns — except Abuja and some parts of Lagos — have no standard sewerage that drains waste water and floods. Cholera spread around the world in the 19th century from the Ganges delta in India. It spread to Africa in 1971, according to UNICEF. Nigeria suffers from periodic cholera outbreaks, especially in the month of October, arising from a terrible culture of hygiene, aggravated by non-existent social amenities. Only 58 per cent of Nigeria’s population have access to water and sanitation, according to UNICEF. As a result, many Nigerians defecate and urinate in the open. These are habits that lead to the spread of the disease, as the bacterium that causes cholera is found in faeces. According to UNICEF, 100 million Nigerians lack access to toilets, while 37 million practise open defecation. A 2008 World Health Organisation/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation reported that access to good sanitation in Nigeria declined from 50 per cent in 1990 to 47 per cent in 2006. Out of a population estimated at 170 million, this is a grave challenge. Open defecation poses a danger to humanity. UNICEF estimates that each gram of faeces in an open field contains 10 million viruses, one million bacteria and 1,000 parasite cysts. This in turn contaminates underground drinking water, fruits and vegetables produced in the affected areas. All those who eat and drink from these sources are at potential risk of the disease. Breaking the cholera trap demands urgent government actions directed at reducing poverty through strong and sustained economic growth that benefits the poor and provides improved social services. All tiers of government, particularly the 36 states and 774 local government areas, should reorder their priorities and direct funding into education, health, and social protection. The latest outbreak of cholera is a timely reminder that governments need to deliver potable water to Nigerian communities. The most important preventative measure is the supply of clean water for drinking. Chlorine, which is the best protectant against almost all water-borne pathogens, is readily available, and it is easy to use. But WHO says that every year more than 3.4 million people die as a result of water-related diseases, making it the leading cause of disease and death around the world. There can be no excuses for failure as the disease can be easily eradicated with the provision of safe water and toilets. Bangladesh is a sterling example of what can be achieved in a developing country when the government is focused. The authorities drastically reduced the incidence of open defecation in the country from 19 per cent to 3 per cent in just two years by decentralising sanitation, while China has completely eradicated open defecation among its population. India, which has the worst case of open defecation in the world, has set a target of 2019 to eliminate open defecation, by building 1.2 billion toilets by that year. Governments must set a target to provide safe drinking water for the populace. Instead of living in ostentation and employing hundreds of aides, state governors should concentrate efforts on the provision of potable water and toilets. The aid agencies have done their bit for the country. European Union statistics show that the organisation has committed €87 million to providing water in six Nigerian states, while the World Bank has invested $1.4 billion in 10 water projects in the country since 1985. WaterAid, a United Kingdom agency, is in 100 communities, in addition to AfDB, which has invested $905 million since 1971, and USAID, which has intervened in 46 communities in Bauchi, Kano and Sokoto states. The Federal Government, which pledged in 2011 to provide water for 75 per cent of Nigerians by 2015 as part of meeting the Millennium Development Goals in 2016, is not doing much to deal with the challenge. In partnership with the donor agencies, the government should devote resources, energy and expertise to pro-poor access to water and sanitation initiatives. Educating the people to wean them from the harmful habit of defecating and urinating openly is critical. Experts say people should wash their hands as much as possible, use a latrine, even if it is a hole in the ground, and boil water and store it. As governments move to provide amenities, the citizens must be responsible enough to make use of them. As India has discovered, the lack of education and age-long religious practices that reject the use of toilets are clawing back efforts to end the open defecation menace that kills about 636,000 people there annually. Copyright PUNCH. All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH. Contact: editor@punchng posted on October 05, 2014 at 12:00AM Send an email to Joseph T. Obagbemisoye 08140584469 or 08086797418 Like JTNNG on facebook facebook/jtnng91 View Joseph T. Obagbemisoyes profile on facebook facebook/jtob91 Follow @jtob91 and get followed also jtnng.blogspot/
Posted on: Sun, 05 Oct 2014 00:04:29 +0000