The House of Representatives, on Wednesday, called on the Federal Government to urgently embark on a vaccination exercise across schools nationwide to address the scourge of diphtheria.
The House’s decision followed the consideration and adoption of a motion of urgent public importance at plenary, sponsored by the House spokesman, Mr Akin Rotimi.
Titled, “The outbreak of diphtheria in King’s College, Lagos,” the bill seeks to draw the government’s attention to the need to prevent the spread of the bacterial disease which has reportedly claimed the life of a student in Lagos.
Speaking on the substance of the motion, Rotimi noted with concern, the outbreak of diphtheria in the boarding house of King’s College, Victoria Island Annexe, Lagos, which he said “has regrettably resulted in the demise of a 12-year-old student and the hospitalisation of several others.”
He commended the Lagos State Government for activating the Emergency Operations Committee, isolating and treating affected students and initiating a mass vaccination campaign to contain the spread of the disease.
