REPS CALL FOR IMMEDIATE NATIONWIDE DIPHTHERIA VACCINATION IN SCHOOLS
Read Time:1 Minute, 46 Second
The House of Representatives has urged the Federal Government to immediately initiate a nationwide diphtheria vaccination campaign in schools to prevent the spread of the deadly bacterial infection.
This call came after the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance by the House spokesman, Akin Rotimi, during Wednesday’s plenary session.
The motion, titled The Outbreak of Diphtheria in King’s College, Lagos, emphasized the urgent need for government action following the death of a 12-year-old student from the disease, with several others being hospitalized.
Presenting the motion, Rotimi expressed concern over the increasing number of diphtheria cases, referencing the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control’s Weekly Diphtheria Situation Report of January 26, 2025, which revealed 24,804 confirmed cases across 25 states since 2022, along with 1,269 deaths in 18 states.
“The House is deeply concerned that this incident exposes significant lapses in infection prevention and control measures in federal unity colleges,” he said, stressing the need for the Federal Ministry of Education to ensure student safety in its institutions.
He praised the Lagos State Government for containing the outbreak by quickly separating impacted students, establishing an Emergency Operations Committee, and starting a mass immunization campaign.
He also gave credit to the National Primary Health Care Development Agency and the NCDC for their efforts to fight the illness.
The Federal Ministry of Health, the NPHCDA, and the NCDC were instructed by the House to step up vaccination and public awareness programs in schools in order to stop future epidemics after the motion was approved.
The Federal Ministry of Education was also directed by the parliamentarians to create a clear action plan for infectious disease outbreaks and to perform an immediate assessment of the health facilities in unity colleges.
In order to improve infection prevention and emergency response protocols in federal schools, the House also assigned its Committees on Health and Basic Education the responsibility of collaborating with pertinent agencies.
Recognizing the terrible loss and the obligation of care owed to students in federal institutions, the House also requested the federal government to compensate the family of the dead student.
Happy
0 %
Sad
0 %
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
0 %
Surprise
0 %
0
0