Meningitis: Northern Leaders to Meet Buhari over Health Agenda

•  Adewole charges leaders to take responsibility for vaccines

Senator Iroegbu in Abuja

The traditional rulers and governors from the northern part of Nigeria have expressed their resolve to seek the support of President Muhammadu Buhari to tackle some of the dire health challenges facing the region, especially the Cerospinal Meningitis (CSM) outbreak.

The leaders also pledged to get behind the health agenda of the federal government in a bid to improve health outcomes of their people.

 The group in a statement issued yesterday by the Head of Media and Public Relations, Ministry of Health, Mrs. Boade Akinola, reached the decision last Tuesday during the emergency meeting of the Northern Traditional Rulers Committee on Primary Health Care (PHC) delivery.

The meeting was jointly convened by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Abubakar Saad III, and the Minister of Health Prof. Isaac Adewole, in response to the outbreak of Cerebrospinal Meningitis.

 According to the communiqué delivered by the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State, the committee will embark on a high level advocacy visit to the president to seek his leadership support to ensure efficient mobilisation of resources for the health of the northern people who are the most vulnerable.

 In his presentation, Adewole called on states to invest in the health of their people beginning with the PHC system. He called on the participants to work together to build a health system that is robust, resilient and the enabling situation where things happen.

He decried a situation where Nigeria has continued to depend on relations and donors for vaccines supply, calling on the participants to take responsibility for their people. He noted that subsidised vaccines provided by GAVI would no longer be available from 2025 and recommended the institution of an immunisation trust fund.

“Part of our suggestion is to have an immunisation trust fund. For too long, we have been immunizing our children using donations and so on. We must take responsibility; they are Nigerian children and we must provide resources to immunise them,” he said.

In the same vein, the traditional leaders expressed sincere gratitude to the minister and all front line health workers working to control the meningitis outbreak and promised to intensify advocacy to ensure resources are available for public health.

 They also resolved to step up awareness and mobilisation of their domain toward the adoption of preventive measures and health seeking behaviour.

 Earlier, the Executive Director of the NPHCDA, Dr. Faisal Shuaib, called for state governments to go back to the primary healthcare system.

He disclosed that the health minister has approved the stocking of vaccines against future epidemics.

 According to him, Nigeria has initiated discussions with manufacturers to secure two million doses of meningococcal polysaccharide AC vaccine. He also disclosed that there is currently no shortage of the vaccines required to tackle the outbreak.

During the meeting, the traditional rulers, governors and state health commissioners were briefed by Chief Epidemiologist, Dr. Sani-Gwarzo, and the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Centre for Diseases Control, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, on the activity of the federal government in response to the meningitis outbreak.

The duo enumerated challenges faced especially as a result of weak health systems; lack of human resource, inability to detect and delayed reporting among others.

They also called on the states to put this system in place and for traditional rulers to help mobilise and educate their wards on some of the behavioural changes which could have easily prevented this outbreak.

While fielding questions, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of health, Mrs. Binta Adamu Bello, underscored the important role of Health workers in providing quality care to the people.

Bello called on the health professionals to adopt the right attitude to work and support the effort of the government at all levels to provide qualitative health care for the people.