Minister Assures Nigerians on Meningitis Outbreak

As Nigerians are still trying to come to terms with the recent out of Meningitis, the Minister of Health, Prof. Issac Adewole has assured all Nigerians that the Federal Ministry of Health under his purview would nip the meningitis outbreak ravaging some states in the bud.

The Honourable Minister made this assertive statement after his ministry declared a public advisory warning to all Nigerians after over 328 deaths related with Meningitis have been recorded since November 2016. He spoke extensively on efforts employed and deployed so far to curtail the further spread of the epidemic.

In his statement, he said, “we have started working with all the affected states in specific areas of collaboration on massive awareness and sensitization, laboratory investigation and analysis, proper documentation and disease surveillance techniques through the National Centre for Disease Control and National Primary Health Care Development Authority (NPHCDA) who have been of tremendous support since the outbreak. We are in constant discussion with World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, E-health Africa and other international health agencies for supplies of vaccines and injections.

Through our initiatives, we have secured 500,000 doses of the meningococcal vaccines from WHO which will be used in Zamfara and Katsina states while additional 800,000 units from the British government.

By next Tuesday, there will be a meeting of the International Review Group of The World Health Organization (WHO) where the request for additional vaccines shall be approved, as part of practical and medically certified efforts to stem this ugly incidence of meningitis outbreak.”