The Kano State House of Assembly has called for urgent government action following reports that a diphtheria outbreak has killed more than 50 children in Rano Local Government Area.
The alarm was raised during Monday’s plenary after the lawmaker representing Rano Constituency, Ibrahim Muhammad, presented a motion of urgent public importance. He said the outbreak was particularly severe in Ridin and Sabuwar Kaura communities.
Muhammad said emergency steps, including the purchase of medicines and deployment of health workers, had already been taken. However, he warned that the scale of the outbreak required additional intervention from Governor Abba Yusuf and the state Ministry of Health.
The lawmaker also raised concerns about the recurrence of the disease, noting that a similar outbreak reportedly caused several deaths in the area last year. He appealed for more emergency medical support to prevent further loss of lives.
The situation was said to have spread beyond Rano, with the member representing Kiru Constituency, Usman Abubakar Tasiu, identifying Kwarin Dangora, Dangora town and Yelwa among communities affected. Tasiu said an APC youth leader in Kiru lost two children to the disease within a single day.
Tasiu called for an emergency committee to coordinate the response across Rano, Tudun Wada, Kibiya, Bunkure, Bebeji and Kiru local government areas. Another lawmaker, Saleh Ahmad, urged the government to step up vaccination and other preventive measures because of the contagious nature of diphtheria.
The Assembly Majority Leader, Lawan Husseini, called on the state government to invoke the Health Protection Law. He said the legislation provides powers for emergency relief and free healthcare, as well as measures to isolate affected areas and restrict movement where necessary.
The House approved the motion and directed its Committee on Health to engage the Ministry of Health on enforcing the relevant law and providing emergency relief to affected communities.
