TACKLING CHOLERA DISEASE IN NIGERIA
The authorities must do more in providing clean water for the citizens
Recent statistics by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) that Nigeria lost no fewer than 3,604 persons to Cholera, is to say the least, shameful. The report which ended the epidemiological cycle for 2021, revealed that a total of 111,662 suspected cases of Cholera were recorded in the country. With Cholera, an under-reported disease, the casualty figures are likely to be far higher. Only Anambra, Edo and Imo States did not record any case, at least officially, while all 19 states in the north account for over 90 per cent of the suspected cases. “We need to provide good water to prevent cholera outbreaks and ensure that things we eat especially fruits are properly cleaned before we can consume them,” a United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) official admonished.
Cholera, which often leads to the infection of the small intestine, is mostly contracted through drinking of contaminated water and eating of waste products. It is therefore a shame that Nigerians are still afflicted by such a disease in the age that we are in. But with the systemic collapse of critical institutions and basic health facilities in many of the states today, it is also little surprise that the country is made to spend more on the treatment of cholera rather than on its prevention.
For more than four decades, cholera has been a recurring disease in Nigeria and has led to the death of thousands of our people, especially children. While there have been some efforts by the federal government to deal with the challenge, we have not seen a corresponding commitment from the state governments yet that is where the disease appears to be ravaging citizens the most. Since the first crisis concerning the spread of the disease begins with failure to provide potable water for their people, most of the governors should be held accountable for cholera prevalence in our country.
The spread of cholera becomes worse when the environment is not clean; when water is not treated and when sanitation is not taken seriously. The sad part is that in many of our states, rural dwellers are left to rely on streams as the only source of drinking water and there are no provisions for disposing waste. In most cases also, the people even must rely on stagnant water for washing their clothes and other items. Therefore, since cholera is more prevalent in rural areas, the problem becomes compounded when and where there are no modern medical facilities to assist in the treatment of the disease.
Besides government however, Nigerians should also not neglect the issue of personal hygiene. All they need to always do is simple hand washing before eating, after going to the toilet, and should also cover their foods against flies. Since cholera kills when a person loses too much bodily fluids, such deaths are preventable if victims are quickly rehydrated. And since no vaccine has been developed to work against cholera, what is commonly used is oral rehydration salts (ORS) as part of measures to mitigate the problem. But prevention is still very much better than cure. To that extent, our rural dwellers and the urban poor should be taught the rules of basic hygiene.
The world has moved ahead of the era where cholera kills citizens. Healthcare officials and other critical stakeholders in Nigeria must sit up to do the needful. Authorities in the 36 states must therefore do more in providing clean water for the citizens, especially for those in the rural areas. We must work towards banishing cholera from Nigeria.
