The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved an inter-ministerial committee to coordinate the cholera emergency operation centre operated by the National Centre For Disease Control (NCDC).
Briefing correspondents after the meeting of the country at the presidential villa in Abuja on Tuesday, Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Ali Pate said the committee comprises representatives from the Federal Ministry of Health, Finance, Water Resources, Environment, Youth, Aviation and Education.
According to him, state governments are to ensure that Nigeria makes progress in reducing open defecation.
“The council then approved a cabinet committee comprising the Federal Ministries of Health, Ministry of Finance, Water Resources, Environment, Youth, Aviation, and Education because some of our children will be returning to school.
“In addition to this the state government we will co-opt so that Nigeria makes progress in reducing open defecation because cholera is a developmental issue that requires a multi-sectoral approach.
“The president directed that cabinet committee be set up to oversee what the emergency operation centre led by NCDC is doing and for the resources to be provided complemented by the State government.”
Pate also disclosed that at the moment 31 states have recorded 1,528 cases in Nigeria with deaths.
“At the moment about 31 states have recorded 1528 cases and 53 deaths in Nigeria that is what we are working on through the emergency operation centre that was activated yesterday NCDC on Monday.
“Now we have a cholera outbreak and we discussed it extensively in the council in addition to a new emergence of yellow fever specifically in Bayelsa State.
“On cholera, we are in the middle of the 7th pandemic globally which is decades in the making in 2022 the world had almost 500,000 cases of cholera so it is not only peculiar to Nigeria. In 2023 almost 700,000 cases of cholera were reported by the World Health Organisation.
“This year more than 200,000 cases have occurred in five regions of the world,” Pate added.
Emphasizing the need for a multi-sectoral approach to tackle the outbreak, he further said: “Multi-sectoral approach is given with technical partners other ministries water, environment, heath, CSOs contributing in that efforts and to ensure we contain them and resources were deployed to 21 states to help them respond to cholera we are improving awareness of the population, hand washing, hygiene sanitation, in addition to treatment with drugs, intravenous fluids.”