No less than 11 people have reportedly died following an outbreak of diphtheria in Niger state.
Meanwhile, 17 lives have been confirmed lost out of the 124 established cases recorded between January and early August, 2026.
Arewa PUNCH gathered that the deaths which were recorded in the last few days occured in Chanchaga and Katcha local government areas of the state.
It was also learnt that 74 patients were treated and discharged from focal areas of Bida and Agaie local government Areas, alongside surveillance in Suleja LGA
The Executive Director, of the Niger State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Junaidu Inuwa who made this disclosure on Friday blamed the casualty rate on parents and guardians who, he said, have denied their children access to vaccinations.
At a Two-Day capacity building workshop on Strengthening Ward Development Committees on Community Engagement and Accountability to Affected Population in Minna organised by the State Niger State Primary Health Care Development Agency in collaboration with United Nations Children’s Fund, Dr. Inuwa explained that the goal is to ensure that community structures are adequately engaged, empowered, and are adequately educated for prevention of diseases
He noted, “Most parents are not immunising their children and the community structure needs to do a lot for us.
“I am sure most of you are aware that recently we have an outbreak of some diseases in Chanchaga and Katcha LGAs. There are 10 cases and all of them died.
We even lost another patient on Tuesday at the General Hospital, Minna,” he lamented.
Dr. Inuwa appealed to the women to prioritise early child education and charged them to encourage nursing mothers to take their children for Immunisation.
The Social and Behavioural Change Specialist of the United Nations Child Education Fund, Kaduna Field Office, Ibrahim Mohammed, in his remarks, said the main aim of the capacity-building was to strengthen their capacity to be able to provide health, wash, nutrition, child protection, and education to the citizens.
“We are looking at an integrative approach to healthcare services across the community,” he stated.
