About 30 children have died, in Imo State, following a fresh outbreak of diarrhoea. The incident occurred in rural areas where the residents source their drinking water from streams and uncertified boreholes.
The Commissioner for Health, Women Affairs and Social Development, Barr. Ngozi Njoku, made disclosure, on Thursday, when a delegation from Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited donated food, beds, gift items and clothing materials to the state government for the poor and physically-challenged.
She said that the death toll from the latest outbreak had risen to 30 in the last few weeks, while hundreds of children suspected to have contracted disease had been admitted in many hospitals.
According to her, 65 suspected cases had been reported in Ikeduru council area alone while areas such as Orlu, Owerri West, Ohaji Egbema Owerri North, Ngor Okpala local government areas had also been affected.
She added that the diarrhoea infection was as a result of climatic change and that it was. “It is a viral infection that comes through the air and affects a lot of children, leading to vomiting and stooling. It is called in medicine, ‘gastro enteritis’.
“This disease started as far back as January, but we didn’t think it was that serious, because we were preoccupied with Lassa fever. By the time we finished Lassa fever issue, we started having reports. So many children are admitted in the hospital. In the ministry, we have got so many cases. In fact, yesterday, we got a report of 65 people from Ikeduru. Apart from Ikeduru, Orlu, Owerri West and a lot of other areas have reported so many cases, too”.
She said that the government had planned to go to Njaba council area for an outreach programme to “give vaccines to over 500 sick children and the parents of sick ones should make themselves available to the programme, so as to benefit from it and keep these children safe”.
The outreach programme, she further disclosed, underscored the importance the state government attached to the lives of the children, stressing that the ministry remained grateful that the government established Health-at-your-door-step programme.
She, therefore, commended AGIP Oil for donating materials for the poor in the state, and urged other institutions to also donate drugs with a view to assisting in curbing the effect of the diarrhoea scourge.
Earlier, the Government Relations Manager of AGIP, Mr. Ijuwe Albert, stated that the company decided to donate materials to the poor, in order to put the government and the public in the know about the activities of the company in the state.
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