The Federal Ministry of Defence on Tuesday presented drugs and vaccines worth millions of naira to Zamfara Government for the containment of meningitis in the state.
Alhaji Mansur Dan-Ali, the Minister of Defence, made the presentation to the state government in Gusau.
Zamfara is one of the states severely hit by the recent meningitis outbreak across the country with scores reported dead and many others still undergoing treatment in designated health facilities.
The Federal Government, through the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), had in the past weeks mobilised and deployed vaccines and personnel to control the effect of the disease to the lowest figures.
The Federal Government also recently purchased additional doses of vaccines to ensure treatment and control of the disease.
Dan-Ali, who is also an indigene of the state, said that the gesture was part of the ministry’s outreach programmes.
The minister said that he was touched by the devastating effect of meningitis in the state, hence, donation of the medications to complement the state government’s efforts.
According to him, the ministry will continue to come to the aid of communities affected by man-made or natural calamities.
The minister advised the people to ensure the cleanliness of their environment and sleep under well ventilated conditions.
While receiving the items on behalf of the state government, the Deputy Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Wakkala, thanked both the minister and the Federal Government for the assistance.
Wakkala assured the minister that the drugs would be used judiciously.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, had called on Gov. Abdulaziz Yari, to build primary healthcare facilities in the state to help people handle common health cases affecting them.
Adewole said that the governor’s focus should be on strengthening the PHC system in the state as the only way to prevent outbreak and most of the common health challenges affecting the people.
Adewole said that if primary health care centres had been in place in the state, a single reported case at a centre would have activated a response that would have averted the scale of meningitis outbreak in the state.
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