Nigeria Deploys 500,000 Diphtheria Vaccines
Nigeria’s federal government has deployed 500,000 doses of diphtheria vaccine to Katsina and Kano states and activated an emergency multi-agency task force to contain an outbreak among children.
The directive was issued by Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare Professor Muhammad Pate. The task force will be co-chaired by the director-general of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and the director of public health, with representatives from the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, health commissioners from Katsina, Kano, Zamfara and Sokoto, the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme in Katsina. The ministry’s chief epidemiologist will serve as secretary.
Officials said the group has been mandated to intensify outbreak investigation, surveillance and community mobilisation, with particular attention to children who have not been vaccinated or have not completed their recommended immunisation. The National Primary Health Care Development Agency sent the 500,000 doses to support intensified immunisation in affected and high-risk communities.
The task force will work with the Katsina State government to establish treatment annexes in hospitals across the state’s three senatorial districts – Katsina, Daura and Funtua, to bring care closer to affected communities. Additional support is being mobilised for the Federal Teaching Hospital, Katsina, the principal referral centre for the state and parts of neighbouring states. That support is to include diphtheria antitoxin, intravenous antibiotics, extra clinical personnel and personal protective equipment.
The task force is expected to provide weekly updates to the minister on progress, challenges and resource needs. The government said the coordinated response reflected its commitment to preventing avoidable deaths from vaccine-preventable diseases.
Diphtheria is a contagious bacterial infection caused by toxin-producing strains of Corynebacterium diphtheriae. It mainly affects the nose and throat and can sometimes affect the skin.
