Yuletide: FCTA heightens surveillance on cholera, other communicable diseases

As Nigerians celebrate the yuletide, the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, has heightened surveillance over its epidemiological situation, with increased focus on key diseases such as Cholera, Ebola, Monkeypox, meningitis, measles and COVID-19.

Accordingly, the Epidemiological Division of the Public Health Department, under FCT Health and Human Services Secretariat, HHSS, has gone into an alert mode against the outbreak of any of the diseases.

Director, FCT Public Health Department, Dr. Sadiq Abdulrahman, who disclosed this, yesterday, in Abuja, said the FCT was on a high alert mode as part of proactive measures taken, even though it did not witness any serious outbreak of the diseases within the year ending,

He added that periodically, there was a weekly review, in conjunction with partners such as the World Health Organisation, WHO, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC and Disease Surveillance and notification officers, who were key foot soldiers at the council’s level.

According to him, “for Ebola viral disease, which is a big global disease of public health concern, though it is not yet witnessed in Nigeria except for the last case in 2014, but we are aware that there is already an outbreak in DRC Congo, with so much consequences from quite a number of deaths, and closure of schools. So, here (FCT) we have executed a high alert mode even though we have not witnessed any case yet.

“So, proactive measures have been taken. Our surveillance system is heightened, and the FCT administration bought quite a number of commodities particularly for these key diseases such as cholera that we witnessed in 2021. We went on advocacy visits to key stakeholders especially in those Area Councils that had high potentials of the disease during the outbreak such as AMAC, Kuje and Bwari.”