By Hassan Zaggi
In an effort to contain the spread and prevent further transmission of Diphtheria, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) has concluded plans to begin mass vaccination campaign across all the affected states in the country.
This is with the support of partners, other agencies and critical stakeholders.
The Executive Director, NPHCDA, Dr. Faisal Shuaib, who disclosed this at a media briefing in Abuja, Monday said that Diphtheria is vaccine preventable but highly contagious.
Diphtheria is spread through direct contact with an infected person or exposure to airborne droplets. It poses a severe risk to people of all ages, particularly children.
Dr. Shuaib revealed that from May 2022 to July 2023, an estimated 2,455 suspected cases were reported in 26 states.
As of July 27, 2023, he further disclosed, 836 of these cases have been confirmed in 33 LGAs across 8 states.
The states, according to him, include Cross River, Kano, Katsina, Kaduna, Lagos, Osun, Yobe, and FCT.
“Tragically, 83 deaths have been reported from these confirmed cases, making vaccination against this deadly disease critically important, especially for our children,” he said.
On the plan for the mass vaccination, Dr. Shuaib, said: “Currently, we are collaborating with the affected state teams and other stakeholders to conduct intensified mass vaccinations for identified at-risk populations in the affected states, administering pentavalent and tetanus & diphtheria vaccines.
“Additionally, we are conducting awareness campaigns to educate the public about the disease, its symptoms, and preventive measures.”
He disclosed that first phase of the response plan will encompass 25 Local Government Areas across four States of Bauchi, Katsina, Yobe, and Kaduna. This phase is scheduled to begin on August 7, 2023 and will continue until August 11, 2023.
“The Phase 2 will cover outbreak response in 171 LGAs in 6 States of Kano, Katsina, FCT, Yobe, Kaduna, and Bauchi.
On the other hand, there will be targeted outbreak responses in LGAs across 8 States of Jigawa (8 LGAs), Borno (4 LGAs), Osun (4 LGAs), Lagos (3 LGAs), Zamfara (3 LGAs), Gombe (3 LGAs), Plateau (1 LGA), and Nasarawa (1 LGA).
This phase, Dr. Shuaib said, is planned to be conducted in three rounds. The first round will commence on August 21, 2023, followed by the second and third rounds tentatively set for September 18, 2023 and October 16, 2023, respectively. Each of these three rounds will span five days.
The NPHCDA Executive Director, therefore, called on parents and caregivers to take their children from birth to 14 years, to nearby health facilities for vaccination with the pentavalent or Td vaccines and other age-appropriate vaccines.
On its part, the World Health Organisation, (WHO) has vowed to support the planned Diphtheria mass vaccination campaign with 92 million naira.
The WHO Country Representative in Nigeria, Dr. Walter Kazadi said: “1800 vials of DAT is expected to arrive in the country on 2nd August and erythromycin in 1-2 weeks, pending government authorization; these health commodities are essential for saving lives and reduce the sequelae in the affected patients, thus need to be prepositioned in the country and ready to be deployed to the states in need.”
According to Dr. Kazadi the NCDC also requested support from WHO for the deployment of 18 rapid response teams to support Bauchi, Kaduna and Katsina response.
“WHO team is on the ground in Yobe and Kano, improving the surveillance at health facility and community level, supporting the active case search and supporting the decentralized isolation centers and referral to the state reference treatment centers, in alignment of State Ministry of Health request and NCDC guidance; WHO is supporting FCT in conducting an integrated Active Case Search and Household Sensitization in FCT optimizing the opportunity for the Fractional Inactivated Polio Vaccine (fIPV ) and the Non-bivalent Oral Polio Vaccine type 2 routine immunization (nOPV2 RI) intensification campaign”
