The National Committee on Epidemics and Pandemics Awareness of the Nigeria Medical Association, NMA, has advised governments at all levels to put measures in place to prevent the impending outbreak of epidemics due to this year’s devastating flooding. The state Chairman of NMA, Abubakar Hassan disclosed this in Lokoja on Monday in a statement jointly signed with the Secretary of the organisation, Enejo Joseph.
The Committee appealed to governments at all levels to provide potable water to the affected communities as the bodies of water in these areas were heavily polluted and unfit for human consumption. The statement emphasized further that the provision of water purifiers as announced by the federal government is a step in the right direction and should be extended to all the affected communities. It also appealed to the government to provide habitable settlements with insecticide-treated bed nets to curtail bites of insects, particularly mosquitoes and tsetse flies.