KANO SEEKS MORE DIPHTHERIA VACCINES FROM FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
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By; Sunmola Ganiyat
The Kano State Government has appealed to the Federal Government for additional diphtheria vaccines to enable it to conduct mass immunisation across the state.
The Director-General of the Kano State Centre for Disease Control, Prof. Muhammad Abbas, made the appeal while addressing journalists on Tuesday night.
The briefing followed reports of a diphtheria outbreak in Rano and other parts of the state, with the Kano State House of Assembly raising concerns that more than 50 children had reportedly died from the disease.
Abbas said the state government had formally written to the Federal Government requesting more vaccines to support its response to the outbreak.
He also urged residents, particularly parents, to report suspected cases to health facilities early to ensure prompt treatment and prevent further spread of the disease.
The KNCDC director-general stressed that early presentation at healthcare facilities could significantly improve treatment outcomes.
He expressed concern over the failure of some residents to report cases, noting that 126 disease surveillance and notification officers had been deployed across the state’s 44 local government areas.
Abbas disclosed that Kano had recorded more than 38,000 suspected diphtheria cases from 2022 to date, with over 31,000 subsequently confirmed.
He said more than 55 per cent of the confirmed cases involved zero-dose children who had never received any form of vaccination, while more than 16 per cent were partially immunised.
According to him, only a small proportion of the affected children had been fully immunised, highlighting the need to intensify vaccination efforts across the state.
Abbas said his team was currently in Rano investigating the reported deaths and would conduct verbal autopsies where necessary to determine the actual causes of death.
He explained that some reported deaths could be linked to other medical conditions and that health officials would interview the families of affected children as part of the investigation.
The development followed a call by the Kano State House of Assembly on Monday for Governor Abba Yusuf to urgently intervene in the reported diphtheria outbreak in Rano Local Government Area.
The motion of urgent public importance was moved by the member representing Rano Constituency, Ibrahim Muhammad, during plenary presided over by the Speaker, Ismail Falgore.
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