Anambra not giving killer cholera any chance
By Chuka Nnabuife
DESPITE the absence of cases, Anambra State is resilient in her anti-cholera campaign.
Amid the fast spread of cholera across Nigeria, Anambra State has initiated a sensitisation of her communities to avoid the epidemic which has killed several hundreds of Nigerians so far.
Though Anambra is one of a handful states that have neither recorded an index case nor had a cholera-related death, the state’s epidemiologists are “working round-the-clock to avoid it coming into the state or to contain it effectively, even if it strays into our domain”, The Street News learnt.
According to a leading epidemiologist in the state, Chukwuma Emembolu, “the fact that several states that are our neighbours have cases puts us on our toes. The epidemiology sections and the entire Ministry of Health of Anambra State, headed by the very alert commissioner , Dr. Afam Oforbike are not taking chances, in case the disease shows up in the state.”
Dr. Emembolu explained that Anambra, being a transit state may pick up the largely hygiene-based disease through a person in transit or a visitor from any of the affected states. He therefore advised everyone in the state to be keen on his or her hygiene and the cleanliness of the environment.
According to him, “if our people can be very careful about what they put into their mouths, maintaining very clean environments and such ordinary things as watching of hand always and, if possible avoiding eating foods we do not know how clean their preparations were, we will keep beating the disease.”
Dr. Emembolu strongly advised against eating things like fresh vegetables and fruits without thoroughly washing them or letting children who returned from school or any public outing into the home without ensuring that they wash their hands well with soap.
Even the rainy season and its associated indiscriminate evacuation of dirts on streets comes as a high risk for such a hygiene-related disease as cholera.
In line with the development, the state’s Ministry of Information has initiated a cholera alert campaign. Commissioner for Information, Sir Paul Nwosu, in public announcement message, states: “Together we can stop spread of cholera in our various homes and communities. 30 States have been affected. Please beware.”
