The Jigawa State governor said the timely response by the state Ministry of Health and support provided by the NPHDA had aided in the management of the cases and in addressing the outbreak in the state.
As the number of diphtheria infection cases continues to increase in Nigeria, the Governor of Jigawa State, Umar Namadi, has said his state is strengthening the capability of primary healthcare centres across the state in responding to the outbreak.
The governor said the outbreak had been a serious health concern, adding that the situation had compelled the medical team assembled by the state government to work round the clock in response to it.
Mr Namadi spoke while hosting the Executive Director of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHDA), Faisal Shuaib, in Dutse, the Jigawa State capital, on Tuesday.
The governor said the timely response by the state Ministry of Health and support provided by the NPHDA had aided in the management of the cases and in addressing the outbreak in the state.
"It was a very serious health issue when it started, we assembled our medical team under the leadership of the commissioner of health, (Abdullahi Kainuwa) and they are working tirelessly day and night and are always reporting back on what they were doing.
"I want to thank you (Mr Shuaib) for your quick response on the Diphtheria outbreak in Jigawa. We commend you for the quick response and all the technical support you have rendered after I called you to provide the vaccine because our people need the vaccine, Mr Namadi said.
He also acknowledged the human resources for health gaps and politicisation in the posting of healthcare providers by local government officials as challenges that the state is addressing at the primary healthcare level.
"We consider the primary healthcare centres and human resources for health very critical which is why we reversed what the local government autonomy brought to us in terms of human resources, earlier before the local government autonomy, all staff of the primary healthcare were under the control of the state primary healthcare development agency.
"The state Primary Healthcare Development Agency has the responsibility of supervision, discipline, and posting, but when the local government autonomy came, all the staff of the primary healthcare development agency returned to the local government making it difficult for control, discipline, and you find out there are a lot of politicking in the system. Because of that, we decided to reverse that back for efficiency, Mr Namadi said.
He said the state government had agreed to pay 40 per cent of the salary of the primary healthcare personnel while the local government would pay 60 per cent, adding that all the staff are now under the control of the state primary healthcare development agency.
"This will assist in the fair distribution of staff among the primary healthcare centres and provide avenues for the discipline of the defaulting staff. This has improved performance and equal distribution of human resources in our primary healthcare centres in responding to the healthcare issues," the governor said.
On the manpower gap in the primary healthcare centres, Mr Namadi said his administration was employing casual healthcare workers that would later be confirmed after a year on probation.
"We have also introduced a J-Health System (casual healthcare workers) where students who studied health-related courses and who are yet to gain employment get temporary appointments and are posted to their nearest communities.
"After a year, their performance will be reviewed and absorbed as permanent staff. With this, we are approaching the minimum standard for human resources at the primary healthcare centres," Mr Namadi said.
Reaction
In his remarks, Mr Shuaib said Jigawa was taking the lead in the country in terms of support to the primary healthcare centres which has translated into a reduction in maternal and child mortality rates in the state.
Mr Shuaib, who inspected one of the primary healthcare facilities at Andaza community in the Kiyawa Local Government Area of the state, said the percentage of skilled birth deliveries per month, as well as the supply of drugs and other essential consumables, showed that the state government was fulfilling the federal government's policy on the primary healthcare centres.
Diphtheria outbreak
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) reports that as of 3 October, the country has recorded 13,204 suspected cases.
Out of the suspected cases, 8,406 were confirmed from 114 local government areas (LGAs) across 19 states including the Federal Capital Territory.
Giving a further breakdown of the diphtheria cases, the NCDC noted that of the 8,406 confirmed cases, 6,202 (73.7 per cent) were aged one to 14 years. With the 7,188 cases, Kano State in the northwest accounted for 86 per cent of the total 8,406 confirmed cases. Yobe state followed on the log of infections with 775 cases, while Katsina and Borno recorded 232 and 118 cases respectively.
The NCDC data showed Jigawa State recorded 23 infections, followed by Bauchi, 20; Kaduna, 17; Lagos, eight; FCT, six; Gombe, five; while Osun and Sokoto states recorded three cases each.
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Niger State recorded two cases, while six states: Cross River, Enugu, Imo, Nasarawa, Zamfara, and Kebbi recorded a single case each.
About diphtheria
NCDC explained that diphtheria is a serious bacterial infection caused by the bacterium called Corynebacterium species that affects the nose, throat, and sometimes, the skin of an individual.
It noted that people most at risk of contracting diphtheria are children and adults who have not received any or a single dose of the pentavalent vaccine (a diphtheria toxoid-containing vaccine), people who live in a crowded environment, in areas with poor sanitation and healthcare workers who are exposed to suspected or confirmed cases of diphtheria.
On transmission, NCDC said that the disease spreads easily among people through direct contact with infected people, droplets from coughing from sneezing, and, contact with contaminated clothing and objects.
The symptoms of diphtheria include fever, runny nose, sore throat, cough, red eyes (conjunctivitis), and neck swelling. In severe cases, NCDC said that a thick grey or white patch appears on the tonsils and/or at the back of the throat associated with difficulty breathing.
