By Tolulope Oke
The Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa has warned Nigerians about an impending outbreak, revealing 56 deaths have been recorded so far.
The deaths resulted from 961 cases of suspected Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM) in 32 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Adetifa in a statement explained that the organization has kept up its collaboration with the impacted States to enhance surveillance given the underreporting of instances.
He explained, “Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM) is an epidemic-prone disease, with cases reported all year round in Nigeria. The highest burden occurs in the ‘Meningitis Belt’ of Africa south of the Sahara Desert. In Nigeria, the belt includes all 19 northern States, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and some Southern States.”
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Adetifa noted that despite substantial advancements in surveillance, diagnostic capability, and vaccine research over the past few years, CSM remained a priority disease and a constant public health danger in a number of nations around the world.
He said that the NCDC launched the global plan to abolish meningitis by 2030 on behalf of Nigeria in order to achieve this goal.
The Director-General stated that the World Health Assembly in November 2020 approved a global roadmap as a strategy meant to defeat Meningitis by 2030, Daily Post reported.
He added that the roadmap’s congruence and localization are particularly important for Nigeria because meningitis is still one of the country’s major public health problems.
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