Nasarawa records one death, 29 suspected cases

The Nasarawa State Government on Monday said it has recorded 29 suspected cases of cholera in the Kokona and Nasarawa Eggon local government areas of the state.

The Commissioner for Health, Gaza Gwamna made this known while speaking at the opening of a 3-day workshop on Reproductive, Maternal and Child Health being hosted by Rotary International in the Akwanga LGA of the state.

The Commissioner explained that in the past few weeks, Kokona LGA recorded 19 suspected cases of cholera while Nasarawa Eggon LGA had 10 cases.

He regretted that one of the patients in the Nasarawa Eggon LGA died while being treated in a healthcare facility in the area.

He said, “We have 19 suspected cases of cholera in Kokona and 10 in Nasarawa Eggon. The one that died in Nasarawa Eggon had diarrhoea and was vomiting, but there was no confirmation that he died of cholera.

“I would want the public to know that cholera has symptoms that are similar to other ailments. We can only say a person has cholera after some laboratory tests have been done, and it is confirmed.

“So, it is not every diarrhoea case that is cholera. Some persons with diarrhoea cases are currently on admission, but we have not confirmed if they have cholera. However, they are being observed by our healthcare workers.”

While expressing gratitude to Rotary International for organising the 3-day workshop, Gaza Gwamna urged the participants to take the training program seriously to report the health challenges affecting women and children in the state accurately.

On his part, the Project Manager of Rotary International Reproductive, Maternal and Child Health, Toyosi Adebambo, explained that the 3-day workshop tagged “Together For Healthy Families In Nigeria”, was to strengthen the skills of media practitioners on effective reporting of RMCH-related issues.

“We expect that at the end of the workshop, journalists will be able to project accurate and informative reports on RMCH interventions and create a pool of champions who will initiate and sustain the discourse on RMCH in the media,” he added.