The Chief Executive Officer of Vaccine Alliance, Gavi, Dr. Sania Nishtar has disclosed that cholera vaccines would soon arrive in Nigeria to help curb the deadly and ongoing disease outbreak.
Nishtar announced this on her X handle on Thursday.
On June 27, 2024, she stated that the body was concerned about the cholera outbreak in Nigeria and was ready to support the country in its response, including requesting emergency vaccine doses where needed.
Cholera, a highly contagious food and waterborne disease, is caused by the ingestion of the organism, Vibrio cholerae, in contaminated water and food.
The primary cause has been linked to the consumption of contaminated water and inadequate sanitation, exacerbated by the onset of the rainy season, which often leads to increased cholera cases due to flooding and compromised water sources.
As of July 15, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 3,623 suspected cholera cases and 103 deaths across 34 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
The current outbreak has spread to 187 Local Government Areas, with a cumulative case fatality rate of 2.8 per cent since the beginning of the year.
The NCDC Director-General, Dr. Jide Idris noted that the predominant age affected was five years old, while males account for 52 per cent of cases and females account for the rest.
He, however, said there was a 5.6 per cent decline in the number of cases in this reporting week (July 8 -14) as compared to the preceding week.
In her post on Thursday, Nishtar tweeted, “Encouraged to learn that #Cholera vaccines from the #Gavi-funded global vaccine stockpile will soon arrive in Nigeria to help curb the country’s deadly and ongoing outbreak. We stand ready to work with our partners #UNICEF and #WHO to support Minister #muhammadpate, #Fmohnigeria, and #NCDCgov’s timely efforts to contain this outbreak and protect those at the highest risk.
“Despite the large number of cholera outbreaks this year, our stockpile is now fully replenished, and production continues at maximum capacity. We hope to keep supporting cholera-affected countries with their control plans. #stopcholera.”
Responding to her post, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Muhammad Pate thanked Gavi’s CEO for facilitating the vaccines.
Pate tweeted, “Thanks #SaniaNishtar for facilitating our early access to
#gavi-funded #Cholera vaccines. We will deploy the vaccines efficiently and effectively in response to the ongoing outbreak.
“Thanks also to President Tinubu #officialABAT for his astute leadership in setting up a multi-sector cabinet committee to support the Emergence Operations Centre led by #NCDCgov to work with our 36 states in a national response to the outbreak. We are seeing early signs of slowing down but we’ll not relent as the situation can reverse. So, the cholera vaccines strengthen our hands.”
The minister also affirmed that the Federal Government is accelerating efforts to improve the water and sanitation situation in the country.
There are three World Health Organisation pre-qualified oral cholera vaccines available – Dukoral, Shanchol and Euvichol. The vaccines require two doses for full protection.
