Meningitis: UNICEF, WHO Donate Drug, Machine to FCT
By Alex Uangbaoje
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO), has donated 1,000 doses of drugs for the treatment of Cerebro Spinal Meningitis (CSM) and three test machines.
Comfirming receipt of the donations, Executive Secretary of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Primary Health Care Development Board, Dr. Rilwanu Mohammed, said the drugs and machines donated by UNICEF and WHO were meant to combat the outbreak of meningitis.
Dr. Mohammed urged residents to be calm as the situation was under control adding that the drugs would be distributed to all general hospitals in the territory.
“We will distribute the drugs to all the general hospitals and teaching hospitals. We are not going to distribute them to the primary healthcare centres because we assume that anybody that shows the symptoms of meningitis should be referred to the general hospitals,” he said.
He also said the three machines used in detecting meningitis stereotype in order to determine its type have been given to Maitama General Hospital, Jabi Medical Referral Centre and University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada.
Dr. Mohammed added that there are now 10 suspected cases with six deaths recorded in the territory. Four suspected cases occurred in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), three in Bwari; two in Abaji and one in Kuje Area councils.
He said the board’s effort at vaccinating all communities in the territory was hampered by shortage of vaccines, though there were moves to get adequate doses from the National Primary Health Care Board.
He urged residents to be calm, adding that all the 22 Internally Displaced Camps in the territory have been vaccinated.
