Cholera Resurgence in Nigeria: Public Health Emergency and a Need for Policy Action
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Nigerian Council for Disease Control and Prevention has reported 1,149 suspected cholera cases and 28 deaths, with a case fatality ratio (CFR) of 2.4% as of March, 2nd 2025. According to the report, Bayelsa state accounts for 66% of all suspected cases, with Southern Ijaw Local Government Area alone contributing 20% of all the national total cases. The cholera resurgence underscores persistent challenges in water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) infrastructure, triggered by seasonal flooding and inadequate public health responses, as well as, open defecation. This brief examines the current cholera outbreak, its underlying causes, and recommends policy interventions to mitigate future occurrences. The following recommendations, among others, were advanced by the brief: i. The National Assembly may wish to charge the Federal Ministry of Health, the Federal Ministry of Environment, as well as the Federal Ministry of Water Resources to, in collaboration with various state governments, conduct a WASH infrastructure audit in cholera-prone areas and provide community water systems especially in rural areas; ii. ii. The National Assembly may wish to advise the federal government on the need to launch Community-based Total Sanitation Programmes that would provide accessible and gender friendly toilets in public places, especially in rural communities; iii. iii. The National Assembly may also wish to summon the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), the Federal Ministry of Environment, as well as the Federal Ministry of Water Resources to charge them towards the enforcement of laws against open defecation.