Meningitis: Sultan, Northern Governors, Health Officials Meet
The Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar, will on Tuesday hold a meeting with the 19 northern state governors and their commissioners of health in Kaduna to proffer solution to the outbreak of meningitis in Nigeria.
The Plateau State Commissioner of Health, Kuden Kamshak, disclosed this on Monday in Jos, Plateau State, at a press conference to mark the 2017 World Health Day.
The day is usually marked on April 7 every year, the birthday of the World Health Organisation .
The day is usually marked on April 7 every year, the birthday of the World Health Organisation .
Nigeria has been experiencing an epidemic outbreak of Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM) that has spread across 19 states in the country with 3,959 suspected cases reported and 438 deaths recorded as at April 5.
The Northern states have been worse hit by the epidemic as Zamfara , Katsina and Sokoto states account for 93 percent of the cases reported.
Zamfara State is hardest hit with 1, 846 suspected cases and 216 deaths.
The Federal Government on Thursday kicked off a mass vaccination exercise in the eight most affected local government areas in the state.
The exercise which initially targeted 300,000 persons aged two to 29 years, witnessed a massive turnout of residents.
A tweet from the NCDC on Sunday indicated that an extra 120,000 doses of vaccine arrived in Zamfara, in addition to the initial 300,000.
The Plateau State Health Commissioner, Mr. Kamshak, said three cases of meningitis had been reported in the state.
“Currently, there is only 500 million vaccines for meningitis, which is grossly inadequate. We need more than that number as a country, the Minister of Health has applied for the importation of the vaccines”, he added.
The state coordinator of WHO, Wadzingi Bassi, at the press briefing however said there is a need for Nigeria to join the world in the battle against depression, as there are increasing cases of the condition worldwide, leading to a high number of mental health challenge.
“WHO defines depression as an illness characterized by persistent sadness, loss of interest and ability to perform daily activities for a period of time,” he stated.
According to the WHO representative, the leading causes of depression are economic hardship, unemployment, physical illness, alcohol abuse, substance abuse and loneliness, which most Nigerians are suffering from.
He said out of the 322 million people suffering depression globally, 30 million people are Africans.
He said out of the 322 million people suffering depression globally, 30 million people are Africans.
“About 322 million people around the world are affected by depression. It is a leading cause of disability worldwide, and a major contributor to the overall global burden of diseases.”
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