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The Adamawa State
government, at the weekend, dispatched a team of medical personnel and
material to communities struck by cholera outbreak in the state, the
Commissioner for Health, Zainab Kwomchi has said.

Although the
commissioner could not give a tally of the number of deaths, reports
put the number of cholera-related deaths in the state at over 20.
“While the numbers of deaths so far were not readily quantified,
nevertheless the state government responded by sending life saving
teams to Madagali and Ganye to help the situation,” said Mrs Kwomchi.
The places severely hit by the outbreak were Sukur village in Madagali
Local Government Area, and in Ganye Local Government Council. The
cholera outbreak, which has become an annual occurrence towards the end
of the rainy season, is widely believed to be caused by fertilizers
washed from farms into wells and streams where most rural communities
get their source of drinking water. The disease, characterized with
symptoms of diarrhoea, vomiting, chest pain, headache and fever, has
resulted in the death of 10 people in Ganye, while six have also been
confirmed dead at Sukur.

There are at
present over 120 people in various hospitals around the epidemic
stricken areas receiving medical care. The Director of Primary Health
Care in Ganye, Yakubu Nekenjumi, blamed the yearly attack on poor
hygiene by the villagers. Mr Yakubu recounted that a similar event had
claimed the lives of 16 people the previous year, stating that the
outbreak occurred about the same period. “Ten deaths have been recorded
while 69 are being hospitalized for visible symptoms of diarrhoea,
vomiting and fever in the villages,” he said. “The 10 deaths recorded
was as a result of the severity of their condition, as they had lost so
much body fluid.”

Inadequate healthcare

Mathias Kurmi, a
senior medical officer at the Ganye General Hospital, said the
attention given to the patients was only tentative because of
insufficient drugs to combat the disease. He blamed lack of basic
health care services at the grassroots for the high mortality. However,
Chairman of Ganye Local Council, Mathias Barde, applauded the efforts
of the medical team. “Even though the epidemic took us unawares, yet
our health officers never derailed from their professional
responsibility, but ensured that the victims had tentative attention
while drugs were being awaited,” he said. He appealed to the federal
government to give the council similar attention it gives to other
disaster prune areas since it has become a yearly attack on the
villagers. An awareness and enlightenment team has been sent round the
council to teach the people on basic hygiene and self-help techniques
to curtail the situation.