Former Nigerian Head of State and chairman of the international NGO Global 2000, General Yakubu Gowon, has declared Nigeria free from the scourge of guinea worm disease.
Speaking during a courtesy call on the governor of Niger State in northern Nigeria Babangida Aliyu on Wednesday in Minna, Gowon said Nigeria had been rid of the disease through the combined efforts of the Federal, State and Local Governments, as well as those of Global 2000.
“The number of people afflicted by the disease stood at 650,000 for a long time which did not go up or down, showing its seriousness on the health of our people in 21 states,’’ he said.
Gowon said the situation was very pathetic, as the disease afflicted the old, the productive group and the children, reducing their capacities to engage in productive ventures.
’’The World Health Organisation (WHO) will now begin the three years of certification process before the country is officially declared free of the disease,’’ he said.
Gowon said Global 2000 would be offering N10, 000 (about US$70) reward to anybody who identified a sufferer of the disease during the certification period in order to ensure that nobody was still infected.
He, however, urged the state and local governments not to relent in sustaining the provision of clean and potable water to the endemic areas to avoid a relapse of the disease.
Responding, Aliyu said a surveillance committee to be presided over by the state Deputy Governor, Alhaji Ahmed Ibeto, was to monitor the endemic areas during the certification period of three years.
Source African Press Agency
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