Re: Nigeria: 2010 Measles cases
Source:
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/03/10/40-children-die-as-measles-scourge-in-bayelsa-worsens/
* Wednesday 10th March 2010
40 children die as measles scourge in Bayelsa worsens
Latest News Mar 10, 2010
By Samuel Oyadongha
Yenagoa? Attempts to contain the spread of the outbreak of measles ravaging some communities in Southern Ijaw local government area of Bayelsa State may have suffered a setback, as no fewer than forty children have reportedly lost their lives to the ailment, with several others in critical condition.
The affected communities include Angiama, Oporoma, Ikebiri, Korokorosei, Opokpotuwari, Umbugbene, and Oweikoroghe with Ondewari being the worst hit. Vanguard recalls that the outbreak of the epidemic was first reported in January at Oweikoroghe in which twenty five children were sent to their early graves, prompting the state Ministry of Health to deploy health personnel to the area.
Also, a non-governmental outfit, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), otherwise known as Doctors Without Border, responded to the distress situation and deployed its personnel to the remote community to contain the spread.
The latest scourge, which also prompted Environmental Rights Action, ERA/Friends of the Earth Nigeria, to dispatch its Bayelsa team to the area, has reached an epidemic proportion as children within the ages of two and four years are reportedly dying daily in the town.
Lamenting the sad turn of event, the Secretary of Ondewari community, Mr. Tontiemotei Yeiyei, who spoke to the ERA Field Coordinator, Alagoa Morris, accompanied by some newsmen, said ?I am over forty years and I have spent a greater part of my life in this town. But I must confess that we have not experienced this kind of situation before.?
?It is not as if we have not had other health situations that were overwhelming, there was a time we experienced cholera outbreak. But in all, we have not seen this type that has claimed the lives of many children. ?Just within two months, this community alone has lost about forty children between the ages of two and four years.
It has reached an epidemic level I must say. And the situation is beyond us. As you may be aware, we just buried a corpse this morning. We have been burying dead children every other day, sometimes two in a day.? Tracing the genesis of the contagious ailment in their community he said, ?the disease was first noticed in neighbouring Okpotuwari just across the river. And because we have some chemists in this community the people of Okpotuwari brought their infected children here to get drugs and treatment. And all of a sudden our children were stricken by the disease.
The symptoms started spreading from house to house and, after a few deaths were recorded, we sought for help by reaching out to the local government authorities. Unfortunately they are yet to respond positively. They only came here to take records of the dead ones and those infected and left.
That was in February. Instead of coming down with drugs to arrest the situation, nothing was done by the local government authorities. ?The only group of health officers who came here with drugs, I suspect, were those from the World Health Organisation (WHO). And because even this set of health officers arrived late in the evening, they managed to immunize just few children who were infected.
That was also in February, the same day the local government record taker came. Since then we have not received any assistance from anywhere. And the situation is worse than when those health personnel visited the community.? Also lamenting his loss, Mr. Tensi popularly called Marle, said ?I am a speedboat driver.
I heard of the illness of one of my children about three years old, and I had to come to see things for myself and assist my wife in tackling the problem. ?I came home from Yenagoa on March 2, 2010. Unfortunately the child died right before me two days later.
Although I have taken it philosophically as part of life, but I must say it is not easy to watch your child die, it?s not easy; it is painful to see these innocent children die like that?? Contacted, the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Azipabu Eruani, though could not confirm the latest outbreak said health officials have been sent to the area to ascertain the veracity of the claim.
But the ERA team led by its Field Coordinator, Alagos Morris which visited the impacted communities said since the tasking of drawing the needed attention to the impacted communities and taking the first steps to arrest the situation falls squarely on the Southern Ijaw local government area officials urgent steps should be taken to set the right machinery in place to stop the death of children in the communities.
He also pleaded that functional health centres stocked with drugs and personnel be provided for the rural dwellers to take care of their health and prevent child mortality among others adding that health personnel posted to communities who are not at their duty posts should be disciplined according to the Civil Service Rules...
