Diphtheria: Bauchi Records 26 Deaths

Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi

About 26 persons in Bauchi State have died as a result of diphtheria while 180 suspected cases have been recorded across the state since the outbreak of the disease earlier this year.This is as the Integrated Health Program (IHP) United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded programme called on the Bauchi State Government to use a portion of the N5 billion palliatives sent to states from the federal government to cushion the effects of the removal of subsidy of fuel, to enroll more vulnerable population in the healthcare insurance scheme of the state.

The Executive Chairman of Bauchi State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (BASPHCDA), Dr. Rilwanu Mohammed, disclosed this while speaking during a one-day media quarterly meeting organised by Journalists For Public Health and Development Initiative (J4PD) in partnership with United States Agency for International Development funded Integrated Health Program (USAID – IHP) held yesterday at Hazibal Hotel and Suites, Bauchi.The one-day media engagement focused on 2023 Bauchi State budget performance and health financing reforms of the state.The executive chairman said that out of the number of deaths, four were confirmed diphtheria cases while the remaining 22 were signs, symptoms and complications of diphtheria following the results of tests conducted.Rilwanu, who stated that so far the suspected cases were being investigated to ascertain the confirmed cases, further explained that “A total of 180 suspected cases were reported from Bauchi (07), Dambam (32), Darazo(2) Itas-Gadau (5), Jamaáre (104), Katagum (17), Misau (9), Ganjuwa(1), Giade (1) and Nini (1) LGAs. Of the 180 suspected cases reported,7 (3.9 per cent) were lab confirmed and 166 were clinically compatible.“26 deaths were recorded among suspected/ confirmed cases (CFR- 14.40 per cent). 10 LGAs reported at least a case, totalling 180 suspected cases in Bauchi State, Jamaáre LGA accounted for 57, 8 per cent of the diphtheria cases. The confirmed cases were from Jamaáre A, B, D, and Itas (01), Dagauda (1), Gabchiyari (1), and Nasarawa B(1).“The ages of the suspected/confirmed cases were 0–55 years while two deaths were recorded among the 7 confirmed cases (CFR: 28.60 per cent), 12 (11.5 per cent) of the total cases reported from Jama’are were partially vaccinated with a diphtheria toxoid-containing vaccine,” he said.The IHP Health Financing Advisor, Khalid Kasimu, also called on the Bauchi State Government to use a portion of the N5 billion palliatives sent to states from the federal government to cushion the effects of the removal of subsidy and to enroll more vulnerable population in the healthcare insurance scheme of the state. Kasimu said that giving people palliatives like rice, maize and other incentives are only short lived, stressing that the issue of expenditure on healthcare should not consume the income of the vulnerable population. According to him, the issue of healthcare for the vulnerable population is very important as one of the factors that contributes to poverty is when people still spend from their pockets to access healthcare. “Bauchi State has 5.5 million vulnerable population and once you enroll the vulnerable group, making them have access to healthcare by using N12,000 per person in the health contributory scheme in the state, that gives them access to health services for a whole year, thereby reducing the effect of healthcare expenditure that is pushing them to poverty. “The vulnerable population are the most affected in the removal of subsidy because they pay more for everything that they are doing. So if we give them access to healthcare for a year in addition to other things they are going to get, they will be happy with this administration,” he said.  Earlier in her remarks, the state Coordinator for J4PD, Elizabeth Kah, said that it is important for journalists to be  adequately informed about the budget of their respective states, particularly in the area of releases and expenditure in order to hold the government accountable. “This quarterly review meeting is to give us an opportunity to understand how to track the budget performance in our state so that we can make accurate and well informed reports. “This will make government to sit up. For instance, the government knows that 15 per cent of the budget was allocated to the health sector but what was the performance like? So when they are aware of the performance and where they are lagging behind, they will improve,” she said. The J4PD Communications Officer, Ishola Michael Adeyemi, explained that the objective of the meeting is to improve understanding of the media to accurately report progress on budget performance and health financing reforms of the state. According to him, “the objectives of this media quarterly meeting also includes increasing health insurance awareness among the public as well as developing capacity of the media outlet on reporting health issues.”