Kano, May 18, 2023 (NAN) The Nigerian Red Cross Society of Nigeria (NRCSN) has organised a four-day training for over 200 volunteers on how to contain the spread of diphtheria in the state.
The Executive Secretary of the society in Kano, Alhaji Musa Abdullahi, disclosed this when declaring open the training on Thursday in Kano
The theme of the training is: “Three days step down, Stop Diphtheria.”
He said that training the volunteers was to ensure that Diphtheria was wiped out not only in the currently identified locations with high cases of the disease, but across all local government areas.
“The aim of the training is to equip volunteers with necessary knowledge and skills in order to go back to their communities and sensitise the public on how to rid the state of the disease.
“We selected 11 local government areas with high cases of diphtheria for the exercise, but at the end of the training, all the local government areas will be covered to ensure safety of all residents.
“The local government areas are: Dala, Dawakin Kudu, Fagge, Gaya, Gezawa, Gwale, Kano municipal, Kumbotso, Nasarawa, Tarauni and Ungogo.
“After the training, volunteers are expected to go back to their communities and conduct house to house social mobilisation, community meetings and road shows,” he said.
The Director, Public Health, State Ministry of Health, Dr Ashiru Rajab, represented by Malam Auwalu Dau, described the training as timely, considering the situation and need to sensitise the public
He appreciated the Nigerian Red Cross for supporting the state government and urged volunteers to work hand in hand with other partners on the field.
One of the participants, Sani Uba from Dala Local Government Council commended the Red Cross for its efforts and promised to spread the information and sensitise the community to ensure that the disease was wiped out.
