By; BALA B. BITRUS, Minna
Niger State Government has released 39 million Naira, (N39 million) for the immediate purchase of vaccines to curb the spread of the killer Cerebro Spinal Meningitis strand that has continued to kill many lives across the state.
A government statement issued Friday said the fund was released as an intervening stop gap measure to save lives as the state was yet to receive the expected vaccines from the federal government.
The state government has for weeks laid in wait for the arrival of the doses of special vaccines donated to the country by international donor agencies which are yet to arrived even as the disease has continued to ravaged communities.
The Executive Director, Niger State Primary HealthCare Development Agency, Dr. Yahaya Na’uzo said the state government has intensified public enlightenment on the preventive measures to checkmate the spread of the epidemic.
The heatwave across the state is made worst by the delay in the onset of the rains this year. Only a few places have recorded their first rainfall this year. Minna., the state capital has only had a sparce drizzling of rain in some parts of the city in the first week of April this year.
Many parts of the state are yet to record rainfall this year even as the intensity of the heatwave have continued with the nights as hot as the day times with the temperature range go up as high as 39 degree Celsius.
The National Centre For the Control of Diseases have earlier in the week raised alarm over the spread of the strand C of the Cerebro Spinal Meningitis in the country just as it revealed that the death toll from the disease have reached over 700 as at the second week of the month of April.
Our correspondent gathered that communities mostly in rural areas where the disease is wrecking havoc were faced with another twin danger of snakes infestation hence they fear sleeping outside at nights because of the dangerous reptiles.
In places like Gulu, Ebbo, Muye, Nassarawa in Lapai council area, the communities prefer to sleep indoors despite the heatwave than to risk sleeping outside their rooms for fear of snakes.
The communities are currently battling with dangerous snakes day and nights as the vipers are forced by the scorching heatwave to seek for cooler places.
Equally, elsewhere in Saho Rami,, Babban Rami, Makera and Tungan Bobi in Mashegu council area, the fear of carpet vibers, a dangerous killer snake specie have been forcing the locals to keep indoors at nights despite the heatwave than to risk the snakes outside.
Though the state government has intensified public education on radio and via traditional means of communication on the need for citizens to stay in well ventilated places, especially during night hours, snakes infestation is forcing many of the rural communities where the meningitis epidemic is sweeping hard to sleep indoors, the heat notwithstanding.
