UNICEF intensifies response against diphtheria outbreak

<p>The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Nigeria has disclosed that it is amplifying its efforts to counter the growing outbreak of diphtheria that has affected children in 27 states.</p>, <p>As of July 2023, 3,850 suspected cases were reported with 1,387 confirmed as diphtheria. The disease has tragically claimed 122 lives, with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 8.7%.</p>, <p>The outbreak has affected mainly Kano, Yobe, Katsina, Lagos, FCT, Sokoto, and Zamfara, which account for 98.0% of the suspected cases. Most confirmed cases, approximately 71.5%, have occurred among children aged 2 – 14 years.</p>, <p>Cristian Munduate, UNICEF Representative in Nigeria, said: “It’s heartbreaking to note that only 22 percent of the confirmed cases received their routine childhood immunization vaccinations,”</p>, <p>“Most of these affected children, especially those who unfortunately passed away, had not received a single dose of the vaccine. The need to reach the unreached has never been more critical.” Munduate added.</p>, <p>In response to the outbreak, UNICEF is closely collaborating with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the affected States and the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), providing technical support to plan and operationalize the response. UNICEF’s commitment extends to several key interventions, including: Planning, implementing, and funding risk communication and community engagement activities, Transporting vaccines and related equipment to the affected states and strengthening routine immunization, Training health workers and volunteers for service delivery, risk communication, and community engagement, Supervising outbreak response activities, Procuring and supplying face masks, hand sanitizers, and antibiotics to treat diphtheria, Supplying Laboratory consumables and biosafety cabinets for testing of suspected cases at the NCDC.</p>, <p>Munduate also emphasised the pressing need to reach children who had missed out on their vaccines due to the COVID-19 lockdown.</p