Afam Obidike, the Commissioner for Health in Anambra State, said that there has been a spike in diphtheria cases during a two-day training for Disease Surveillance and Notification Officers to stop the spread of diphtheria and other infectious diseases.
He said the training was required due to the mounting concerns over the current diphtheria outbreak in several states, as the session got underway in Awka on Tuesday.
Mr Obidike, a medical doctor, said that no fewer than 11,000 suspected cases had been recorded in the country and the state needed to put precautionary measures in place.
According to him, the surveillance officers were drawn from the 21 local government areas of the state.
The commissioner said that the training was part of the government’s steadfast response to the diphtheria outbreaks occurring in various states in the country.
“The officers will be equipped with preventive skills and techniques on how to collect samples of any outbreak in their respective council areas and notify the relevant ministry or agency for prompt action.
“This is necessary, especially at this harmattan period, where some respiratory tract infections could be high.
“We adopted this measure when the state witnessed monkeypox, Lassa fever, yellow fever and measles. We used the measure to identify diseases and have it treated or quarantined,” he said.
The commissioner urged the officers to take the training seriously for the good of the residents.
Chima Emembolu, the state’s epidemiologist, had previously said that the training was fully funded by the state government and had not received any assistance from any other health partner in Nigeria or abroad.
