By CrossRiverWatch admin
The Cross River State government has debunked reports in some sections of the media that there is an impending outbreak of Diarrhoea disease in the State Capital Calabar, due to piles of rubbish littering the streets.
The news which has been lingering in the press since early in the week has created panic among some residents of Calabar, but the state primary health care development agency has insisted that the reports are false and alarmist and should be disregarded.
In a statement by the Director General of the State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Betta Edu, and made available to CrossRiverWatch, the agency says if any outbreak occurs the state health response team is the first to know and is super ready to swing into action.
The statement reads: “Diarrhoea disease outbreak is the occurrence of cases of diarrhoea disease in excess of what would normally be expected in a defined community, geographical area or season.
“An outbreak may occur for a few days or weeks, or for several years. Everyday data from health facilities across the state are collated from monitoring and evaluation officers and sent to the state dash board where we closely monitor number of diagnosed cases of diarrhoea. And if any outbreak occurs, it will reflect on our dash board.
“Under five children and pregnant women are given priority in the state as such, we are in the best position to report an outbreak and offer immediate response to any.
“The Governor of Cross River State Senator Professor Ben Ayade a few weeks ago provided huge support for the maternal, new born and child health week where community health workers were mobilized to go into every community in Cross River State to provide health education and information on how to prevent and manage diarrhoea in our communities.
“Cross River State was rated by independent monitors, National Primary Health Care Development Agency and UNICEF, as one of the best in the country in that exercise.
“Furthermore, the state provided over 65,000 ORS and Zinc combination as part of our child health interventions 3 weeks ago. We definitely do not have an outbreak and if any occurs the state health response team is super ready.
“That said, we encourage people living in Calabar and its environs to ensure personal and environmental hygiene to forestall outbreak of any disease, stop indiscriminate dumping of refuse on streets and work with Government to keep Cross River State clean and green.” The statement concluded.
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