.Begins Niger begins monthly sanitation exercise
By Priscilla Campbell,
Minna
Niger State government is ready and equipped to handle any outbreak of disease.
It also denied rumours of outbreak of Lassa fever in the state.
The state Commissioner for Health and Hospital Management Board, Dr. Muhammed Makun Sidi, disclosed this in Minna.
He said that due to previous experiences the state government has embarked on a massive sensitization programme on the issue.
His words: “Already, the people had been sensitized on personal and environmental hygiene across the 25 local gGovernment areas, and every nooks and crannies of the state. Our Disease Surveillance Centres are in place with free drugs for treatment and prevention.
“We are also in contact with the National Disease Control Centre to ensure we monitor and act swiftly. Healthcare givers are being trained and retrained. We have over 500 doses of drugs for positive cases and 200 doses of curative.”
Sidi also disclosed a review of the mid-term process between the state and Bill Melinda Gate four years Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to the sum of N1.3 billion for funding and technical assistance to mitigate maternal, infant mortality and the revitalization of its Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) in the state.
Meanwhile, the state government has announced plans to kick-start the monthly sanitation exercise this February.
The state Commissioner for Environment, Mohammed T. Zakari, disclosed this at a press conference.
Zakari explained that vehicular and human movements would be restricted between 7am to 10am.
He stated, “We are reintroducing the Monthly environmental sanitation exercise and it will be flagged off on Saturday, 29th February, 2020 by the Governor, Abubakar Sani Bello.”
According to him, Mobile Courts hadve been set up for better enforcement, saying,”The Ministry is partnering with security outfits and other relevant agencies to ensure strict compliance as well as effective exercise.”