NAN

The United Nations, through the Nigeria Humanitarian Fund, on Friday in Abuja, donated two million dollars to support the response to the deadly outbreak of cholera in Yobe State.

Mr Edward Kallon, UN Humanitarian Coordinator, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the outbreak has affected thousands of people in the state.

According to the statement issued by Ms. Samantha Newport, Head of Communications, UN OCHA, a total of 404 cases and 15 deaths have been reported in North-East.

She said that United Nations and its partners have activated an immediate emergency response in the affected communities in support of the State Ministry of Health.

He added that more resources are needed to ensure that the outbreak was contained, especially ahead of the rainy season when the risk of outbreaks and spreading of water-borne diseases was higher.

“The funds will enable humanitarian partners to provide safe water to over 1.6 million people, improve sanitation for thousands in the affected communities, and boost the technical and human resource capacity in hotspot areas.

“So that cholera can be detected early and treated promptly. Raising awareness of how to identify, prevent and treat cholera is also a key part of the response to the outbreak.

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“Cholera outbreaks can potentially impact and kill thousands of people, especially women, children and men, who are living in overcrowded places such as camps for internally displaced persons.

“Surveillance and early detection are key to limiting the number of fatalities and the spread of the outbreak,” Kallon said.
According to him, acting swiftly is pivotal if we are to prevent high mortality rates.

“This fund will help the UN and partners strengthen the capacity of community health personnel and equip local health facilities.

“With diagnostic and treatment equipment as the rainy season gets underway and access to some of the affected localities might be impacted by flooding.“

He said that the humanitarian crisis in North-East has spilled over into the Lake Chad region, which was one of the most severe in the world today.

Kallon stated that 7.7 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in 2018 in the worst-affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, and 6.1 million were targeted for humanitarian assistance.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Nigeria Humanitarian Fund (NHF) is managed by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs under the leadership of the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria.

NHF is created to provide funds in a prioritised, flexible and timely manner so those who are most in need of life-saving support with 18 country-based pooled the funds.