Lagos State Government convened an emergency meeting with key health officials to address a suspected Diphtheria outbreak at King’s College, Lagos.
According to Dr. Kemi Ogunyemi, the Special Adviser to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Health, representatives from the World Health Organization (WHO), the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), and the Ministry of Health are collaborating on the matter.
“We are working on it. We’ll be having a meeting in about an hour, and we’ll be able to let the press know once we get our facts,” Dr. Ogunyemi confirmed. “We are working very hard on it.”
The outbreak has left some students hospitalized, and concerned parents have expressed outrage over the school’s slow response.
A parent, speaking anonymously, stated, “If there are no cases, why are the students mandated to wear nose masks, and some of them taken to Lagos University Teaching Hospital for treatment?”
The school has responded by organizing vaccination drives in collaboration with the Lagos State Primary Health Care Board, and WHO officials visited the school to raise awareness about Diphtheria prevention.
“Delegates of the World Health Organisation visited the Annex Campus this evening to play their own role in controlling the situation,” said Ngozi Ogbonna, the Public Relations Officer of the King’s College PTA, urging parents to remain calm.
The community is calling for increased infrastructure improvements in the school, including better sanitation and healthcare facilities, to prevent further outbreaks.