The House has urged the federal government to strengthen diphtheria vaccination and advocacy campaigns in schools across the country. The resolution was adopted Wednesday, March 12, following a motion sponsored by House spokesman Akin Rotimi.
The move comes as reports say several students at King’s College of Lagos were hospitalized due to the diphtheria outbreak. Diphtheria is made from Corynebacterium Species that affect the nose, throat and even the skin. Symptoms of the disease include fever, sore throat, cough, runny nose, red eyes, swelling of the neck and difficulty breathing. The disease has claimed hundreds of lives in recent months, mainly children.
Rotimi stressed in the motion that the King’s College outbreak revealed a large number of mistakes in infection prevention and control measures at the Federal Unified Academy. He stressed the urgent need to develop a nationwide health and safety strategy for schools.
The motion was passed unanimously after House Speaker Tajudeen Abbas voted. After the vote, the House called on the Federal Ministry of Health, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) and the Nigerian Center for Disease Control (NCDC) to “strengthen diphtheria vaccination and advocacy campaign” in schools across the country to prevent future outbreaks.
In addition, the House urged the government to take “immediate and decisive” actions to strengthen the health and safety programmes of all federal unified colleges, with special attention to King’s College.
