As the number of cases of diphtheria in the state surpassed 130, the Kano State Government established three treatment units.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Abubakar Yusuf, who disclosed this on Thursday, said the state had deployed the necessary mechanisms to curtail the spread of the disease.
He said that over 130 people were admitted just last Monday as the case continued to grow.
Giving an update on the disease outbreak, Yusuf noted that a state like Kano should not be dealing with such an outbreak except for the previous administration’s failure to immunise the populace.
He said, “Governor Abba Yusuf has since directed the ministry to swing into action to curtail the spread of the deadly disease. Three designated centres have been provided for treatment and admission.
“The general public should not hesitate to seek medical assistance whenever they experience any of the symptoms listed by the Nigeria Centre for Disease and Control.”
Similarly, in Kwara State, the Executive Secretary of the state’s Healthcare Development Agency, Dr Nusirat Elelu, said, on Thursday, that the state had extended immunisation of children and infants to 388 health care facilities in the state to guard against diphtheria and other children diseases, including poliomyelitis.
Speaking on the level of turnout in the state, she said, “We have extended our immunisation to 388 facilities covering the 194 wards in the 16 local government councils of Kwara State.
“We are not limiting the immunisation to diphtheria alone; we are also covering poliomyelitis and other diseases that can affect children in infancy.”
The Gombe State Epidemiologist, Dr Bile Nuhu, told media that the state was taking proactive measures against diphtheria, though the state had not recorded a case since the outbreak of the disease in parts of the country.
Nuhu said, “Diphtheria is a vaccine-preventable disease. It’s captured in the routine vaccines for children younger than nine months. If children have that one, they are protected. Now the issue is that we have diphtheria, which affects children from two to 14 years old. The routine immunisation only covers those younger than one year. The efforts at the federal level between the NCDC and NPHCDA are to see how they can expand it so that it can cover the other ones.”