Port Harcourt – The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), said it had commenced the distribution of medical kits/equipment to ministries of health in the nine states of the Niger Delta.
A statement issued in Port Harcourt by the commission’s Head of Corporate Affairs, Mr Chijioke Amu-Nnadi, said that Rivers Government had already taken delivery of the kits.
It listed the kits to include: fixed vaccine cold rooms, mobile solar/battery-powered vaccine cold chains and assorted types of drugs.
The statement quoted NDDC’s acting Managing Director, Mrs Ibim Semenitari as saying that the kits were part of the commission’s efforts to boost healthcare in the region.
“The mobile solar/battery-powered vaccine cold chains are meant to take the vaccines from the fixed ones to remote areas.
“This will help maintain the cold temperature for the vaccines to ensure that they were in perfect condition.
“NDDC is committed and will continue to partner with communities, local and state governments to help address medical challenges in the region.
“We will assist as best as we can to ensure that our people are healthy”, the statement quoted the managing director as saying.
The statement said Semenitari inspected drugs that would be dispatched to Soku in Rivers as part of ongoing intervention to control the recent cholera outbreak in the state.
She said Soku, being oil producing area and Island, had made it difficult for the people to receive quick interventions.
According to her, the cold chain and other kits will enable the people of the area to have access to vaccines and to prevent future outbreak.
“We notice that vaccines are not properly stored to ensure that it is delivered to the end users at the appropriate temperatures. NDDC is determined to change that.”
A representative of the community, Mr Christian Otiasah, thanked the Acting Managing Director for coming to the rescue of Soku people.
Otiasah said that with the commission’s intervention, the cholera outbreak in the area would be taken care of.
Describing Semenitari as a people-oriented leader, he called on Soku and Rivers people to rally round her for a formidable NDDC. (NAN)