To help Yobe State limit the current cholera outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) has started training 31 community health workers today.
Dr. Nuhu Barau Ningi, WHO's Yobe State Field Office Coordinator, revealed this information to journalists in Damaturu at the training's opening ceremony, which was held at the Desert Hall.
The coordinator claims that the trainees will act as ambassadors, educating locals about the present cholera outbreak and providing early warning as a preventive step for other diseases including monkey pox, COVID 19, measles, etc.
“The purpose of this training is to empower these community leaders so that they would be able to make informed decisions on the prevention of the outbreak, now that we are already experiencing the outbreak of cholera and threats to other outbreaks in the state.
“We have about 869 cases in 9 LGs in Yobe State and that is why we are training these people on the prevention of the diseases in the state.
Satomi Hikama, the Deputy Director of Family and Community Health Service at the board and a spokesperson for the Yobe State Primary Healthcare Management Board who briefed journalists, urged the participants to take the training seriously in order to achieve the intended results.
He was unable to confirm any deaths as of the time this report was filled out.
The WHO coordinator also mentioned that logistics will be made available so that the trainers could visit every home in the impacted communities and provide the correct knowledge about how these diseases can be prevented, exposed to, and spread.