More than 350 Nigerians have died from cholera in the first nine months of this year, an increase of 239% from the same period last year, data from the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) revealed on Monday.
In recent months, Nigeria has seen frequent outbreaks of the waterborne disease cholera in rural areas, leaving urban slums exposed to contaminated drinking water.
According to the NCDC, there were 359 deaths between January and September, compared to 106 during the same period last year.
The number of suspected cholera cases also jumped to 10,837 from 3,387 the previous year, with most of the infected children under the age of five. The NCDC also said Lagos, the country’s commercial hub, recorded the highest number of infections.
Additionally, authorities in Borno State reported a cholera outbreak on Friday. The state is facing massive flooding that has displaced nearly 2 million people.
Nigeria has been hit by multiple public health crises in recent months, in part because the health sector is underfunded. In the Federal Health Budget 2024, the government allocated 4.47% (₦1,228,100,390,765) of the proposed expenditure (₦27,503,404,073,861) to health.
This is less than one-third of the 15% promised in the Abuja Declaration. Incidentally, this equates to N6,831 for every Nigerian (assuming a population of 220 million).
