FG Urged by Kano for More Diphtheria Vaccine Doses

Authorities in Kano State have officially requested the Federal Government to provide more diphtheria vaccines. This appeal aims to facilitate a statewide mass immunisation campaign to combat the disease. Professor Muhammad Abbas, who serves as the Director-General of the Kano State Centre for Disease Control (KNCDC), conveyed this urgent plea during a press briefing held on Tuesday evening. The conference was convened in response to recent reports from the State House of Assembly concerning a diphtheria outbreak in Rano and other local government areas, which has tragically claimed the lives of over 50 children.

Professor Abbas confirmed that Kano State has formally communicated its need for increased vaccine quantities to the Federal Government, stating, 'Kano State has even written to the Federal Government to get more and more vaccines so that we vaccinate our people.' Beyond the vaccine request, he also urged residents, particularly parents, to promptly report any suspected cases of diphtheria or other illnesses to nearby health facilities to ensure timely medical intervention.

Emphasising the importance of early detection and treatment, Professor Abbas pleaded, 'We are appealing to parents to please report early. Early presentation to healthcare facilities is what saves.' He further elaborated that managing any condition, medical or social, becomes significantly harder if it's allowed to become protracted and complex. He advised citizens to visit their closest healthcare facility, assuring them that 'If the cases are epidemic-prone cases, they will alert us.'

The KNCDC Director-General voiced his dismay regarding the public's reluctance to report health issues to medical centres, despite the deployment of 126 disease surveillance and notification officers across all 44 local government areas of Kano State. He lamented, 'So, it is really disheartening that we will have cases that are up to 50 that have not been reported to the hospital.' He reiterated his call for community cooperation: 'We want to appeal to people: come to the clinics, come to the hospital. If the hospitals feel these cases are greater than what they can handle, they will refer them to us and we will do the needful.'

Professor Abbas also highlighted the KNCDC's sustained efforts in managing diphtheria since the inception of Governor Abba Yusuf's administration. Providing a stark overview of the situation, he revealed, 'I want to tell you that we had over 38,000 cases from 2022 till date, out of which over 31,000 cases were confirmed.' He expressed particular concern that 'more than 55% of those are what we call zero-dose children who have not received any form of vaccination.' Furthermore, he noted that 'More than 16% of the cases and another 10 to 15% of them were partially immunised,' while only a small fraction had received full immunisation, indicating a significant public health challenge.

He further informed the public that his team is currently in Rano, conducting investigations. 'As I am speaking to you now, my team is in Rano. They want to dig out. Sometimes, certain deaths may be due to other diseases.' He explained their process, stating, 'In that situation, we carry out what we call verbal autopsy. We interview the parents and see what happened, what led to the death of these children,' to ascertain the exact causes of death.

Earlier on Monday, the Kano State House of Assembly had already urged Governor Abba Yusuf to promptly address the diphtheria crisis. This appeal came after a motion of urgent public importance was presented by Ibrahim Muhammad, the representative for Rano Constituency, during the assembly's plenary session, which was chaired by Speaker Ismail Falgore. The motion highlighted the tragic deaths of more than 50 children in Rano Local Government Area due to the outbreak.