Ravaged By Measles

Hundreds of children in Kano are affected by an outbreak of measles, even as the state Ministry of Health complains of lack of vaccines

By Madu-Jerry Nmeribeh/ Kano

After 14 years of praying to Allah, Hajiya Halima Abubakar’s joy of having a son early last year turned sour recently when he became a victim of the recent outbreak of measles in Kano. “My heart is now empty. I tried my best to make him live for me, but now he is gone,” she lamented.

Kano State has always been vulnerable to measles whenever there is an outbreak of the disease in the northern part of the country. Worst-hit by the recent outbreak which recorded over 800 children infected, and with 30 of them killed, has been Kano metropolis  which consists of Fagge, Nasarawa, Ungogo, Dala, Gwali Tauruni, Kumbotso and Municipal councils.

Data from the state Ministry of Health show that 1371 cases of measles were recorded in Kano in the whole of 2007. In January last year, 57 cases were reported. But the figure has risen astronomically this year, with more than 1000 cases recorded in January only. This, naturally, has brought panic to residents of the state.

Health experts attribute the relatively low incidence of the disease in 2006 and 2007 to the National Mass Campaign against Measles launched in 2005, which ensured that children between nine months and five years were immunised. Experts say children under nine months old are not prone to contracting measles because the immunity derived from the mother remains active. But after nine months, the immunity would wane and the child would become susceptible to the disease if not immunised.

It is shocking that in the recent outbreak in Kano, over 90 per cent of the victims, most of them children between the age of nine months and five years, were not immunised.

A reliable source in the state Ministry of Health said enough vaccines were not made available for immunisation of children across the state. “That is why we frequently have cases of measles here. If enough vaccines are made available and children vaccinated at the right time, the spread of the disease would be checked.”

According to the source, the last consignment for the Immunization Plus Days (IPDs), received by the state Ministry of Health in January, was several months late. “And the vaccines sent to us were far short of the requirement of the state. Many of the victims were not immunised. It is not as if they were not sensitised or not eager, but the issue is that we are starved of the vaccines. It is a national problem, it is not peculiar to Kano,” he added.

The National Primary Health Care Development Agency, NPHCDA, is responsible for the procurement and distribution of vaccines and  state governments are prohibited from doing such. Kano State Ministry of Health has, therefore, been compelled to collaborate with international donor agencies and non-governmental organisations, NGOs, in a bid to overcome the damage caused by the delay of the NPHCDA in sending the vaccines.

Though she admitted that non-availability of immunisation vaccines poses a danger, the Commissioner for Health, Malama Aisha Isyaku Kiru, said the state government is taking proactive measures to control the disease. “We have been doing a lot to fight the outbreak of measles and related diseases. We ensure this by making drugs available for victims. We also have a surveillance team that moves around local government areas to monitor cases; and I must tell you that the disease is prevalent within the Kano metropolis where you have a larger number of people.

“We also have intervention from support groups like the [British Department For International Development] DFID. We have sensitisation groups such as the state Safe Motherhood Committee, and the Epidemic Preparedness and Response Committee, which I chair. What we do is to discover an outbreak and take necessary steps to curb it. We also have the Drug Revolving Fund Committee which makes funds available for purchase of drugs.”

Malama Kiru noted that there was need to organise another national immunisation campaign, which she said yielded dividends three years ago. “In 2005, there was a National Campaign against Measles and statistics will tell you that between 2006 and 2007, there was a serious impact, as we had less cases of outbreak. I believe there is a need to embark on another national campaign; it will really help to bring down the wave,” she argued.

The commissioner, however, described the last measles attack as an outbreak, not an epidemic. “I dispute it when people say it was an epidemic; it can’t be. In medical terms, you have an epidemic when hundreds of thousands of people are involved. Therefore, what we had recently witnessed was an outbreak which affected people less than one thousand and it has been put under control.”

The general feeling in the state is that there is an urgent need to make available vaccines for immunisation because “prevention is better than cure”. Said Hassan Mahmoud, who also lost a son to the disease: “My deceased son was never immunised. I can not remember how many times my wife took him for immunisation without success. They complained of lack of the vaccine. I think the government is not being fair to the common man.”

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