The World Health Organisation (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund, and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) convened an emergency meeting on Tuesday to discuss the cholera outbreak in Lagos state.
Walter Mulombo, the WHO national representative, published information about the meeting on his X account.
He wrote:
“Happening Now: @WHONigeria @UNICEF_Nigeria @IOM_Nigeria hold an emergency meeting on the emerging cholera outbreak in Lagos state.”
“The three agencies are discussing joint @UN_Nigeria support @NCDCgov @ProfAkinAbayomi.”
As of Sunday, 15 people had died and another 60 were hospitalised in Lagos as a result of a major outbreak of cholera-related gastroenteritis.
Akin Abayomi, the commissioner of health, stated that a laboratory analysis verified the strain to be cholera subtype O-1, which is associated with more severe infections.
According to Abayomi, the detected strain is “highly aggressive and contagious, with the potential for widespread dissemination”.
He stated that through community-based case detection and contact tracing, the government discovered that the number of cases “has peaked and is now significantly declining”.
On Monday, UNICEF asked for broad measures to protect pupils from the country’s cholera outbreak.
Celine Lafoucriere, chief of the UNICEF Lagos field office, said cholera “critically affects” children and urged steps to prevent disruptions in the academic calendar due to the disease’s spread.