Plateau, UNICEF Intensify Efforts To Contain Cholera Outbreak
Plateau, UNICEF Intensify Efforts to Contain Cholera Outbreak
The Plateau State Government, in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund UNICEF, has intensified preparedness and response efforts to contain the ongoing cholera outbreak in parts of the state. The intervention is aimed at strengthening community-level response, reducing deaths and preventing further transmission of the disease across affected and high-risk communities.
The initiative, being implemented in partnership with the Plateau State Primary Health Care Development Agency and other relevant agencies, includes training frontline health workers and response teams under the Case Area Targeted Intervention CATI programme.
The CATI approach is designed to ensure that immediate interventions are deployed to communities whenever a cholera case is identified. According to UNICEF, cholera cases have so far been reported in Barkin Ladi, Bokkos, Mangu, Jos North and Jos South Local Government Areas. UNICEF Chief of Field Office, Bauchi, Dr. Rafiq Nusrat, described the situation in Plateau as critical, stressing that immediate action was required to reduce the number of infections and deaths. She said the response was not only focused on treating existing cases but also on building systems capable of preventing future outbreaks across the state. “We are focusing on the immediate response by reducing the number of deaths and cases, while also strengthening preparedness to prevent future outbreaks across all the LGAs,” Nusrat said. She explained that the fight against cholera could not be left to the health sector alone, noting that effective prevention required a coordinated, multisectoral approach. Nusrat said cholera vaccines had been requested and received for affected local government areas, while CATI training was ongoing to equip response teams with the necessary skills. She explained that the intervention combines healthcare services with water, sanitation and hygiene WASH measures, social mobilisation and behaviour-change activities.
According to her, the approach is particularly important because malnourished children and pregnant women are more vulnerable to the effects of cholera. She said teams were being deployed to communities where cases had been recorded to prevent further infections, contain transmission within affected households and ensure that patients receive immediate treatment. The General Manager of the Plateau State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency PRUWASSA, Engr. Godfrey Dashuhar, said the training became necessary following the recurrence of cholera in the state.
Dashuhar explained that an earlier outbreak was recorded in Bokkos last year and was thought to have been contained after response measures were implemented. However, the disease resurfaced in Mangu this year, prompting renewed collaboration between health and water, sanitation and hygiene authorities. He said the training was organised for response teams from the five affected local government areas to enable them to quickly intervene whenever cases are detected. “While our colleagues in the health sector are responsible for managing cholera cases, our role is to prevent further transmission,” Dashuhar said. As part of the field exercise, hygiene promoters visited Rikkos and Angwan Rukuba communities in Jos North Local Government Area. Dashuhar explained that the two communities were selected for different reasons. Rikkos was chosen because cholera cases had already been recorded there, making it a priority for immediate response measures. Angwan Rukuba, on the other hand, was identified as a community at risk, despite having no confirmed cases at the time of the exercise. The intervention there was therefore focused on prevention and reducing the possibility of an outbreak. Another UNICEF Field Officer from Bauchi State, Mrs Ijeoma Terver, said the organisation’s role was to support government-led efforts rather than take ownership of the response.
Terver stressed that state governments remained the drivers and owners of health interventions within their respective territories.
She said UNICEF and its partners were in Plateau to strengthen the capacity of government officials and response teams and provide technical support toward containing the outbreak. The latest intervention underscores the need for sustained cooperation between government agencies, development partners, health workers and communities as Plateau intensifies efforts to stop the spread of cholera and prevent future outbreaks.
