Nigeria is currently battling a cholera outbreak as there has been a 3,113% increase in suspected cases from 2020 to 2021. In 2020, Nigeria recorded only 978 suspected cases of cholera.
However, between the 1st of January and the 1st of August 2021, the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control reported 31,425 suspected cases of cholera and 816 deaths from 22 states and FCT.
Amidst the cholera outbreak and Tracka’s intervention to report dilapidated health facilities across the country tagged #FixOurPHCs, we visited the Primary Health Centre located at Tudun Wada community in Funtua, Katsina state. The PHC is the Cholera Outbreak Response Centre in Funtua.
The facility is in a terrible state, and the influx of patients due to the rising cholera cases has worsened the situation. Women and children were seen receiving treatment on the bare floor, using the window frame as drip stands.
Residents from five Local Government Areas – Funtua, Dandume, Sabuwa Faskari, Bakori, Danja LGAs – in Katsina and from nearby villages in Zamfara and Kaduna states rely on this particular health centre for treatment.
The second closest health facility is the General Hospital in Malumfashi Local Government, about 50km away from Funtua.
Our community champion spoke with a woman who had brought her daughter to the centre for treatment.
“She has been getting worse since I brought her here yesterday. She has been stooling what looks like rice water. They are only giving her drips, but she’s getting worse. I’m scared.” the woman told us.
A health worker at the facility who pleaded anonymity revealed that since May 2021, the PHC has attended to 1257 cases, reported 30 deaths, and 22 patients are currently receiving treatment.
A total of 1257 cases reported makes Funtua the LGA with the highest number of cholera patients in Katsina State.
But the state’s Commissioner for Health, Engr Nuhu Yakubu Danja, in a press conference on the 10th of August 2021, pegged the total number of cases in the state at 1,534 and 75 deaths. Who is telling the truth now?
According to WHO, cholera is a highly virulent disease that affects both children and adults and can kill within hours if untreated. It can cause severe acute watery diarrhoea. It takes between 12 hours and 5 days to show symptoms after ingesting contaminated food or water.
Although the disease is easily treatable if detected early, Nigerians do not have access to quality healthcare to reduce their risk of dying from the disease.
In July 2021, Nigeria experienced a 61% increase in death cases of cholera within three weeks. Also, the NCDC has not updated the cholera cases in the nation in the past eleven days, which is downright worrying and incompetent.
We call on the Federal Government, Katsina State Government and other relevant stakeholders to urgently look into this issue.
This health centre is in a terrible state and overstretched, and residents are dying from a very treatable cholera disease because of this. The facility needs renovation, equipment and adequate drugs.
There is an urgent need for WASH facilities to be provided in states to prevent the further spread of cholera. Clean water and safe hygiene practices are crucial to curbing the outbreak.
The NCDC also needs to update its cholera response in hotspot states and scale-up vaccination, testing, and case tracing logistics.
Story by Ayomide Ladipo, Mustapha Saddiq, and Saddiq Mustapha.
This story is published under Tracka’s #FixOurPHCs series. The series highlights how the state of health facilities in communities affects citizens’ quality of life.
