The Federal Ministry of Water Resources has commenced distribution of hygiene kits and water guards to communities affected by cholera in some parts of the FCT.
The intervention is sequel to reported cases of deaths from the outbreak of cholera in many communities, according to the weekly Situation Report (SITREP) by the FCT Primary Health Care Development Board.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoting the SITREP within the last one month noted that no fewer than 72 persons had died from confirmed cases of cholera in six area councils of the FCT.
Mr Ibiyemi Olu-Daniels, Deputy Director, WASH Response with the ministry, on a WASH Assessment, Sensitisation and Response to some communities affected by cholera, said the intervention was necessitated to forestall further occurrences.
According to him, the team is also carrying out water sample analysis to ascertain the causes and the pathogens polluting their water to forestall future occurrence.
He said affected communities had been classified as cholera hotspots, noting that the samples taken from their ground and surface water sources would be assessed in the ministry’s labouratory.
Olu-Daniels said the importance of hand washing could not be overemphasised, as it had a way of breaking faecal-oral transmission of diseases
“The water guard is to purify their water and kill all the germs, the hygiene kits distributed are to promote their hygiene culture, we have trained them on washing of hands at critical times.
“We plan to sustain these interventions by ensuring that the federal reference labouratory in charge of the FCT would prioritise these communities as water sampling sites.
“We are responding, and in this case, we talk about hygiene promotion, improve both environmental and personal hygiene.
“We are also talking about water safety, taking the water from the source, at point of distribution and when it is being stored.’’
On preventive measures and sustainability of interventions carried out so far, Olu-Daniels said the site would be used as water sampling collection site to ascertain trends of contamination and ways to prevent cholera outbreaks.
He said members of the community had been urged to improve on their environmental sanitation, saying it was very poor and unacceptable.
“Littering of the environment with all kinds of wastes is a risk, dumping wastes close to water sources can contaminate the water bodies and lead to cholera outbreak.’’
Mrs Ayaba Kogbara, Desk Officer, Hygiene in the Ministry, said there was the need to put proper waste disposal mechanisms in place, saying most cholera outbreaks originated from contaminated foods, vegetables, fruits and water.
The desk officer also urged the community members to build and use their toilets, noting that most cholera outbreaks were from issues.
“Open Defecation practice can be traced to cholera, which is why we are begging you to teach your children to always use the toilets.
“If there are no soap or water available, you can pour ashes into the pit latrines, this will allow decomposing of the faecal matter quickly and reduce possible infections and smell’’.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, (NCDC) reports that the country has recorded 37,819 suspected cases of cholera, 1,178 deaths in 23 states and the FCT as at Aug. 14.
The affected states include Benue, Delta, Zamfara, Gombe, Bayelsa, Kogi and Sokoto.
Others are Bauchi, Kano, Kaduna, Plateau, Kebbi, Cross River, Niger, Nasarawa, Jigawa, Yobe, Kwara, Enugu, Adamawa, Katsina, Borno, Taraba and the FCT. (NAN)
