Sultan Calls For Collaboration To Halt Meningitis

The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar has called for more collaboration between all tiers of government to prevent further spread of Meningitis in the country.

The Sultan made the appeal in Kaduna on Tuesday during an emergency meeting of the Northern Traditional Leaders Committee on Primary Health Care.

The committee met with other stakeholders to deliberate on the recent outbreak of Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM ) in the region.

The Sultan, who was represented by the Emir of Zazzau, Alhaji Shehu Idris, said concerted efforts must be made to scale up immunization and other preventive measures to contain the spread.

He said that the meeting was to reassure government of the traditional rulers support in ensuring that “our people and members of community are given the appropriate medical attention promptly to avoid outbreak of meningitis.”

Abubakar commended the response of the Federal, States and Local governments since the manifestation of the disease, and expressed the hope that it would be sustained “until the disease is completely eradicated or controlled.”

The Sultan urged Nigerians to keep their environment clean, maintain personal and environmental hygiene and ensure that their houses were well ventilated.

Chairman of the committee, who is also the Shehu of Bama, Alhaji Kyari Ibn El-Kanemi, disclosed that the disease has so far affected 16 states in the North.

According to him, the traditional rulers will not relent in creating massive awareness to curtail further spread of the disease.

Dr Wondimagegnehu Alemu, Country Representative of the World Health Organization (WHO), appreciated the traditional leaders for their support in the efforts to contain the disease.

He noted that the type C meningitis currently causing havoc in the country, was “new and has never been known to cause this magnitude of outbreak.”

“That has left us with no option but to rely on few tools available including few number of vaccines that are available at global level.”

He called for enhanced surveillance to trace new disease occurrence in the country.

Alemu said WHO would work with the Federal Government, Sokoto and Zamfara States to build a robust surveillance system starting with local government level.

The UNICEF representative at the event, Mohammed Fall, sympathised with the victims and reiterated commitment to partner with government in fighting the disease.

He particularly called for more attention to be given to the condition of women and children in the North east.

“We know that in the North East the children are facing the burden of malnutrition, they are already facing the consequences of conflict, now letting Meningitis penetrate in this area will increase the burden,” he said.

He stressed that all partners must pay special attention to ensure that the Meningitis did not spread into the North East.