Cholera outbreak in Egbeda area of Oyo State has killed eight people, while 10 other persons have been hospitalised at the council's Health Care Centre.
The state Governor, Abiola Ajimobi, who was represented by the state Commissioner for Health, Muyiwa Gbadegesin, and his counterpart from the Ministry of the Environment and Habitat, Lowo Obisesan, said distribution of drugs had already started to fight the scourge in the community.
A statement by the Press Officer, Ministry of Health, Cosmas Oni, stated that the state government on Wednesday reacted quickly by sending health officers to the area to curb the spread of the disease.
The community has a population of about 282,000 people, with only one primary health centre.The community had been certified clean and free of communicable diseases, until the current outbreak of cholera.
Gbadegesin said the state had also embarked on some efforts by distributing drugs to the people and sterilising their water. Commenting on the source of the disease, the commissioner blamed the community for improper use of the environment.
He however promised that the state would further respond to the outbreak by building a modern hospital to prevent a future reccurrence. During the visit to the area on Wednesday, Environment and Habitat commissioner, Obisesan, told the community that sanitary facility would be provided by the state government.
Our correspondent observed that the sanitary condition in the area was at its lowest, with stagnant water and dirt noticeable on the streets. Local restaurants in unhygienic conditions also littered the area, with domestic animals freely mixing with humans. A resident of the area, Kolapo Aderibigbe, said the only health centre in the community was not adequate to care for the population.
"The population has increased in the past 10 years, and normally, there should be added facilities to make life easy for the people. Before now, we lived without having fears over our health. We use well water but most of them are not deep enough. Some of them are not sterilised also."
