Diphtheria Outbreak Claims More Than 50 Children in Kano, Lawmakers Urge Emergency Action
The State House of Assembly has urged the government to intervene in the wake of the death of over 50 children in a diphtheria outbreak in Rano Local Government Area of Kano State.
The lawmakers sounded the alarm during the plenary on Monday following a motion of urgent public importance by Ibrahim Muhammad of Rano Constituency on the outbreak.
Although the state government has already taken emergency measures such as buying medicines and sending health workers to the affected communities, Muhammad said the disease had particularly affected children in Ridin and Sabuwar Kaura communities.
He called on the state government to offer further assistance to the affected communities, citing a similar outbreak that killed several people in the area last year.
The situation has reportedly spread beyond Rano. Communities such as Kwarin Dangora, Dangora town and Yelwa had also reported cases, said Usman Abubakar Tasiu, representing Kiru Constituency.
Tasiu revealed that an APC youth leader in Kiru town lost two children to the disease in one day.
Other legislators urged more preventive measures, such as increased vaccination and emergency health care responses, noting that diphtheria is contagious and can quickly spread to neighbouring communities.
Majority Leader Lawan Husseini called on the state government to declare a state of emergency under the Health Protection Law, which allows for emergency relief, free health care and other measures like isolation and movement restrictions in the event of an outbreak of infectious diseases.
The Assembly then adopted the motion and referred it to its Committee on Health for action in collaboration with the Ministry of Health to implement the law and provide emergency relief.
The deaths have raised concerns about child protection in the event of epidemics and the importance of timely vaccination, access to treatment and prompt public health response to save children’s lives.
