Taraba Govt. Moves to prevent Spinal Meningitis across State
—Says IDPs are target
Owing to the recent outbreak of the spinal meningitis in Sokoto State that claimed several lives, the Taraba State governmenthas streamed up measures to avert the spread of the disease across the 16 local government areas of the state.
The Hon. Commissioner of Health in the state, Dr. Innocent Vakkai, who stated this while speaking exclusively with the Daily Times in his Jalingo office said, the Federal Ministry of Health has alerted the entire country over the outbreak of the disease in Sokoto state.
According to him, immediately the state government got the information, it quickly set in motion, through various electronic media, to sensitize the general public as regards the signs, symptoms and preventive measures of the disease.
Some of the signs and symptoms of the ailment, the Commissioner disclosed were; headache, stiffness of the neck, tiredness, etc pointing out that such signs if noticed, the victims should report immediately at any nearby medical centre.
Dr. Vakkai told our correspondent that three years ago, the State Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health, carried out a vast national vaccination campaign against the spread of the disease.
“When the mass vaccination campaign was carried out in the State, it was not only in Taraba State but the National Mass Vaccination Campaign,” he said.
He added that such measures do not deter government from making adequate preparations if eventually there will be a case in the state.
The Commissioner, however, added that the state government used to have what he described as mop up vaccination campaigns across the state against the disease.
Presently, he noted, government has mapped out stringent measures to carry out the ‘mop up vaccination’ at the various Camps of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) across the state, explaining that the IDPs came from insurgency- ravaged states to Taraba.
