The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has highlighted the various challenges it faces in addressing epidemic-prone diseases in the country. During a news conference in Abuja, the Director General, Jide Idris, emphasized inadequate funding and substandard healthcare infrastructure as major obstacles at the state level.
These challenges have resulted in difficulties in treatment, delayed reporting of cases, limited public awareness, and outbreaks in areas with compromised security. To combat these hurdles, the NCDC advocates for increased investment in public health initiatives and emphasizes the importance of strengthening partnerships, collaborating closely with security agencies, and implementing innovative strategies for disease prevention and control.
In addition, the agency is actively preparing for future outbreaks by enhancing preparedness efforts, including the development of risk profiles and state-specific hazard profiles. Despite these efforts, there is a need to ramp up health promotion and risk communication initiatives to empower individuals to take control of their health.
The NCDC has responded swiftly to recent outbreaks of diseases such as meningitis, measles, Lassa fever, cholera, and diphtheria across different states. Rapid response teams and essential materials were dispatched to affected areas. The agency extended condolences to families and friends who lost loved ones to those outbreaks and commended the efforts of state governments and stakeholders in containing them.
Recent reports of mysterious illnesses leading to fatalities among young individuals in Nafada LGA, Gombe State, and schools in Yobe State, had been confirmed as meningitis outbreaks. Proactive responses by the Gombe and Yobe ministries of health were highlighted, emphasizing the importance of collaborative efforts among government agencies, international partners, and NGOs to strengthen response efforts.
Lassa fever, an acute viral hemorrhagic illness, is transmitted to humans through contact with infected rodents or contaminated persons. Its symptoms include fever, headache, sore throat, general body weakness, cough, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pains, chest pain, and in severe cases, unexplainable bleeding from ears, eyes, nose, mouth, and other body openings. Meningitis, on the other hand, is a serious disease that can lead to inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord.
