Humanity Watch

Niger State government has broken silence on outbreak of cholera in the state as the commissioner for Health, Dr. Mohammed Makusidi, yesterday said 150 people had died as a result of the disease in the state. He said the deaths were recorded from April to date even as he did not give reasons on why the government was silent over the outbreak for a long time.Niger State government has broken silence on outbreak of cholera in the state as the commissioner for Health, Dr. Mohammed Makusidi, yesterday said 150 people had died as a result of the disease in the state. He said the deaths were recorded from April to date even as he did not give reasons on why the government was silent over the outbreak for a long time. The commissioner who spoke at the ongoing workshop by Pathfinder International in Minna noted that the outbreak was across the 25 local government areas LGAs of the state. According to him, before spreading to other local government areas, the disease was detected in 18 of the 2...

  Six states in Northern Nigeria reported 3,541 cases of cholera in the last two weeks, 13 June to 26 June, with 325 dead in six months. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), gave the figures in Abuja on Saturday. Most affected is Bauchi state, which has recorded 2,139 cases, about one-seventh of the 14,343 cases posted from January to June. Kano, the most populous state in the north is the second worst affected state. It logged 937 cases in the last two weeks. Other states with cholera cases in the last two weeks are Zamfara with 169 cases and Kaduna with 129. Niger reported 62 cases and Plateau nine. NCDC Director-General, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu said the 14, 343 cases reported from January to June came from 15 states and the FCT. The affected states are Benue, Delta, Zamfara, Gombe, Bayelsa, Kogi, Sokoto, Bauchi, Kano, Kaduna, Plateau, Kebbi, Cross-River, Nasarawa, Niger. NCDC’s Situation Report on cholera indicates that 27.6 per cent of victims across the country are those...

    Rural communities face the worst deprivation from the effect of the COVID 19 pandemic. Billions of Naira earmarked as COVID-19 funds to cushion the devastating effect of the pandemic were not accessed by rural communities in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Research conducted by CITAD with support from Actionaid Nigeria under the Youth Digital Engagement (YDE) project shows that only an insignificant percentage of the population in the communities benefited from the COVID-19 palliatives in the FCT, Josephine Ejeh reports. For years, Kadijah Sani survived from proceeds from sales of waterleaf which she uses to support her family until the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus which subjected her to the worst ever experience in her farming business.   All over the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the livelihood of people especially the aged and young. For young persons, the pandemic led to more job losses and widened the social exclusion gap. Young women...

  German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday called for global COVID-19 vaccine production in her speech at the Global Solutions Summit 2021. To overcome the COVID-19 crisis, “we need to provide access to sufficient vaccines, medicines and tests for all, including the poorest countries,’’ said Merkel. Meanwhile, Merkel called on G20 countries to support the international campaign ACT-Accelerator to the best of their abilities. She urged them to accelerate the development of tools against COVID-19 and make them available to all countries in a fair manner. According to Merkel, there was a lack of funds not only for vaccine distribution but also for production expansion. Meanwhile, as one of the ACT Accelerator’s largest donors, Germany would support the global initiative with 2.2 billion euros (2.7 billion U.S. dollars). “The world is a community of fate, said Merkel, adding that there’s no lack of major challenges” she added.

  Patients who trooped to public hospitals to keep their appointments were turned back yesterday by the management because there were no doctors to attend to them. The medical doctors had complied with the strike declared by the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD). Some of the patients said they were asked to come back next week in the event of the doctors calling of the strike. However, skeletal services were maintained in the hospitals by consultants and nurses, who attended to emergency cases. The worst victims of the strike were out-patients doctors who were denied services and directed to come back at undisclosed dates. The strike came as last minutes’ efforts by the federal government to avert the strike were unsuccessful. The leadership of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) and the government’s delegation led by the minister of labour and employment, Dr Chris Ngige, had a closed door meeting which lasted for several hours on Wednesaday. However, ...