President Tinubu Establishes Cabinet Committee to Combat Cholera Outbreak

President Bola Tinubu has ordered the formation of a cabinet committee that will oversee the Cholera Emergency Operation Centre run by the NCDC.

The Minister of Health, Ali Pate, disclosed this yesterday following Tinubu’s chairmanship of the Federal Executive Council meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

In the meeting, Pate listed that the cabinet committee includes members from the Federal Ministries of Health, Finance, Water Resources and Environment, Youth, and Aviation, as well as Education.

He said the committee’s move is complemented by the State government’s action to assist Nigeria advance in the fight against the practice of open defecation.

Read Also: North West Province to Scale Up Male Circumcision Drive During School Break

Gambia Sees Major Progress as Over One Million Citizens Register for Digital Birth Certificates and National Health Insurance

“The council then approved a cabinet committee which includes the Federal Ministries of Health, Ministry of Finance, Water Resources and Environment, Youth and Aviation and Education because some of our children will be returning to school.” he said.

The Nigerian government intends to engage state governments in halting open defecation and combating cholera, as it understands that it is a developmental challenge.

A cabinet committee will be set up according to the president’s demand to monitor the operation of the Emergency Operation Centre headed by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) with the support of resources from the state government.

Pate continued, stating that out of the 31 states, 1,528 cases have been confirmed with 53 deaths.

“Now we have a cholera outbreak, and we treated it in council, and also a fresh emergence of yellow fever, particularly in Bayelsa state.”

Cholera is not peculiar to Nigeria, as the world recorded almost 500,000 cases in 2022 alone. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly 700000 cases of cholera were reported in 2023.

“This year, more than 200,000 cases have occurred in five regions of the world,” the minister said.