cholera spread in Mozambique continues to accelerate, almost 1.8 million vaccines financed by Gavi

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With rising cholera spread in Mozambique, some 1.8 million vaccines financed by Gavi are on their way to eight affected districts, reports ITREALMS.

The International Coordinating Group (ICG), mandated to manage emergency supplies of vaccines, first approved a request from Mozambique to vaccinate 1,358,682 people over the age of one with a single dose oral cholera vaccine strategy on 9th March and last week approved an additional request to vaccinate 410,629 people with a view of supporting the country’s efforts to limit mortality and reduce the spread of the disease.

Coalition writes Wike, others over ban lifting on public gathering, mosque, churches, invitation to spread COVID-19 – ITREALMS

ITREALMS: 

The Health Sector Reform Coalition (HSRC) has written to Nigerian governors who lifted bans on public gathering, markets, mosques and churches in their states over the on-going lockdown to curb the spread of Coronavirus or COVID-19, reports ITREALMS.
As at press time, ITREALMS gathered that the governors of Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Wike, his counterparts in Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello; Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN; and Katsina State, Aminu Bello Masari; have lifted bans on public gathering, markets, mosques and churches to name a few.

HSRC in an open letter available to ITREALMS endorsed by its Co-chairs on COVID-19 Response Task Team, Deacon Mike Egboh and Dr. Chizoba Wonodi, said they received with shock, concern and fear, the lifting of bans on some gatherings including Friday prayers and Easter services, by some states.

They also commended some states on lockdown especially the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Lagos among others describing it as welcome development, stressing the importance of containing the spread of COVID-19 (Coronavirus), and avoiding the high number of deaths that might follow and the disastrous effects on the health system and economy, as we are seeing with countries like US, Italy, Spain, UK, amongst others.

HSRC with its membership of over 100 non-governmental actors, working to improve health care and development across every state in Nigeria, recognizes and respects the importance of worship and religious celebrations to Nigerians.

“We acknowledge and value the role of religious leaders and faith-based organizations in providing spiritual support through faith for their followers in a healthy and safe environment,” they said.

Further, HSRC appreciated the socio-economic difficulties being faced by people over the lockdown across the country.

“Unfortunately, options are limited for now in the best ways to fight the spread. Scientific evidence and experience from developed and developing countries reinforce that avoiding crowd, physical distancing, handwashing and respiratory hygiene are still the best ways to prevent the spread and associated deaths. With the high number of people living in poverty, high prevalence of chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes (underlying diseases) and very weak health systems, it will be catastrophic if the virus spreads widely in Nigeria.

“Data from the WHO and Johns Hopkins shows that 1.6 million people have tested positive and more than 95 thousand have died from COVID-19 between December 2019 to April 9, 2020. While majority of infections and deaths have been in developed countries, both infections and deaths are also rising in Africa. Cases in Nigeria have multiplied from one to 288 in six weeks with seven deaths. Number of states with established cases have risen from one to 17 within the same period.

“Trends from other countries showed that without drastic measures such as maintaining lockdowns and distancing, the numbers can easily rise exponentially over a short time. Between February 27 and March 27, the US went from 54 to 100,522 cases while Italy went from 593 to 66,414 in one month!

“Because our testing is grossly inadequate, the true numbers of cases in Nigeria may be hidden. It is highly likely that community spread is happening because up to 85% of the infected may be asymptomatic yet capable of transmitting the virus. Our containment is still in the nascent stage, this is not the time to relax our guard. The couple of weeks are very critical in containing an upsurge in the number of confirmed cases.

“As the Health Sector Reform Coalition of Nigeria, we:

A. Implore our governors to cancel all plans or reverse the directives to lift the ban on religious and other gatherings until the NCDC and Federal Ministry of Health advise otherwise – No matter the pressure, this is not the time for populism.

B. Call on the federal government and state governments to increase the delivery of economic mitigation packages to households and individuals that are in need, to reduce the pressure on people to go out for their daily living.

C. Ask all Nigerians to PLEASE continue to listen to the advice of health experts represented by NCDC and WHO at this critical time. Nothing is more important than staying alive.

Furthermore, we need to remind ourselves of the following:

i. COVID-19 (Coronavirus) does not go to sleep at night, market days, Fridays or Sundays

ii. Infected people without any symptoms can still transmit the virus

iii. Over 2500 infections in France was linked to a single religious gathering while about 230 infections in South Korea were linked to a religious group where members continued gathering

iv. Crowd gathering should be avoided, and at all time maintain at least 2 m or 6 feet or two arm’s length of distance between people

v. Religious and faith institutions are encouraged to explore means of conducting faith activities remotely/virtually (as long as required) and provide psychosocial and mental health support and resilience

vi. Cloth face masks might help reduce the spread by those who are infected but does not fully protect healthy people from getting infected, so continue to practice hand washing, respiratory hygiene, physical distancing and crowd avoidance even when wearing a face mask

vii. Clean/disinfectant surfaces such as doorknobs, handles, to remove the virus

viii. Actively promote attitudes and behaviours to uphold the dignity and rights of all people, and counter all forms stigma and discrimination associated with the virus

ix. Even if you have good immunity, you can spread it to children, the elderly and other family members who are vulnerable and more likely to die from COVID-19

x. States that currently have zero recorded cases are still not safe and closing state borders is not enough.

“As the custodian of power in the state, necessity is placed on the governors to make the right decision that will protect the citizens. This is the time to make that difficult sacrifice to protect our future. Our governors and other political leaders should be seen to be leading,” HSRC maintained, urging “Nigerian, please stay at home and stay alive!!!”

Chuks Egbune/DoP

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WHO: Zika virus may spread in coming months

ITRealms:

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has disclosed that the Zika virus could spread across Europe in coming months reports ITRealms.

WHO regional director for Europe, Dr. Zsuzsanna Jakab, noted that the assessment of the virus classified the risk of an outbreak from low to medium, underscoring that the risk should not be underestimated.

ITRealms recalls that the mosquito-borne virus first discovered in Brazil last year, 2015, has been found in more than 50 countries. Though it is highest on the island of Madeira and the Black Sea coast of Russia and Georgia, where the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes who are responsible for most of the infections are indigenous, the risk is still considered moderate in 18 countries where a different mosquito, Aedes albopictus breeds. This mosquito has also been shown to be a potential transmitter of the virus in Africa, Mexico and in lab experiments.

Jakab also said WHO is considering the capacity of countries in Europe to respond and most would do so efficiently and fast, stressing that the Europe-wide risk as low to moderate.

“With this risk assessment, we at WHO want to inform and target preparedness work in each European country based on its level of risk. We call particularly on countries at higher risk to strengthen their national capacities and prioritise the activities that will prevent a large Zika outbreak,” Dr. Jakab.

 Further, WHO urged countries with a high or moderate risk to take stronger measures to stop the spread of mosquitoes and reduce their numbers.While health professionals should be trained and equipped to detect Zika infection and report it within 24 hours. Even as pregnant women should be enabled to protect themselves from infection, including through sexual transmission.

Okoli Vincent/GEE

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