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Climate action: Young ambassadors cycle across Europe

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Climate action: Young ambassadors cycle across Europe

Two young people from Wellington, New Zealand, are cycling across Europe in an epic endeavor to raise awareness for climate action and showcase projects related to the UN’s Climate Neutral Now and Momentum for Change initiatives.

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Young climate ambassadors: Inka Vogt and Fabian Beveridge

The climate ambassadors plan to cycle approximately 10,000 km across Europe to show that traveling can be climate neutral, visiting projects and interviewing key people active in climate protection on their way. One stop will be at the secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Bonn, Germany.

“We’ll be featuring the video interviews they do visiting local champions, and you can follow their climate neutral journey on social media,” says the UNFCCC secretariat in a statement on Tuesday, April 4, 2017.

Inka Vogt and Fabian Beveridge are both 18 years old, and have just completed secondary school. They began their trip in Porto, Portugal and are heading towards Munich, Germany. The trip will take them via Greece and Serbia.

“The most important thing we want to contribute to with our trip is awareness about climate change and climate action, so people know it is possible and affordable to travel like we are”, they say about the project, dubbed “Europe on four wheels”.

“We want everyone to know the true ramifications of their actions when CO2 emissions are concerned, and attempt to provide and use alternatives”.

The carbon emissions from their flights, totaling about six tonnes, have been offset by helping fund a project in Thailand via the UN’s Climate Neutral Now initiative.

The Climate Neutral Now initiative enables individuals, companies and governments to measure their carbon footprints, reduce emissions where possible and offset the rest with UN-certified emission reductions, while at the same time investing in sustainable development projects in developing countries.

As climate ambassadors, Inka and Fabian will be visiting NGOs and Climate Neutral Now participants along their route, as well as Momentum for Change Lighthouse Activities. These are practical, scalable and replicable examples of what people, businesses, governments and industries are doing to tackle climate change. Momentum for Change is an initiative spearheaded by the UN Climate Change secretariat.

Niclas Svenningsen, Manager for the Strategy and Relationship Management at UNFCCC, expects that their trip can bring climate action to people’s attention and inspire them to cut carbon emissions.

“We are proud to have Inka and Fabian as UNFCCC’s Climate Neutral Now and Momentum for Change ambassadors! Their initiative to go around Europe by bike to visit, and tell the world about, good projects, ideas and organisations walking the talk on climate action will hopefully inspire others to follow suit – both to take climate action, and to take the bicycle when they are heading somewhere. I look forward to follow their progress, and to meet them along the way,” said Svenningsen.

Anxiety in Abuja as Meningitis spreads

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Anxiety in Abuja as Meningitis spreads

The Health Secretariat of the Federal Capital Territory has yet to receive any report on outbreak of Cerebro Spinal Meningitis in the area.

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Executive Secretary of FCT Primary Health Care Development Board, Dr Rilwanu Mohammed, vaccinating a child

Alice Achu, the Acting Secretary, Health and Human Services Secretariat of the territory, made the remark in Abuja on Monday, April 3, 2017.

Achu denied an earlier report credited to the Executive Secretary of Primary Healthcare Board, Dr. Rilwan Mohammed, that five cases had been recorded.

According to her, for meningitis to be confirmed, a patient has to undergo clinical fluid test through which the disease can be identified.

Achu said: “Most of the diseases like malaria, urinary tract infection and others have the same symptom but the only way is to have laboratory fluid test which those who were reported dead did not go through.

“We had eight suspected cases, six died, and two treated but none underwent the test to confirm that the cases were cerebrospinal meningitis.

“All the said patients went to the clinic late when they were about to die. Those who survived were diagnosed with cerebral malaria.”

Achu called on the residents to adhere strictly to the basic rules of hygiene which included sleeping in ventilated rooms, washing of hands and covering one’s mouth while sneezing.

Achu said there was a concerted effort by the FCTA management to fight the disease, adding that some of the health collaborating agencies have supplied them with vaccines for high risk areas.

The secretary said those areas included prisons, IDP camps and boarding schools to prevent the spread of the disease. She said management had mapped out plans for the control of the disease.

She said: “A committee has been set up and charged with giving out information when necessary.

“The emphasis has been on preventing the disease, having the vaccination is to have immunity which if you do you have acquired defence.

“In 2013, there was a campaign all over Nigeria on Type A of cerebrospinal meningitis which we have already dealt with, whereas now what we have is Type C.

“And you don’t vaccinate everybody but some numbers to curtail it, only from one-year-old child and above as it takes five years in human body.”

The acting secretary announced sources of information to include community leaders, focal and surveillance officers at community, local government and state levels.

Achu said: “People should also know that a disease is suspected disease, probable and then confirmed which we are yet to confirm. What we have at the FCT has been suspected cerebrospinal meningitis but yet to be confirmed.’’

The situation report from the Federal Ministry of Health on Friday showed that 90 local government areas in 16 states of the federation have so far been affected by CSM.

The states include: Zamfara, Kano, Katsina, Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger, Nasarawa, Jigawa, FCT, Gombe, Taraba, Yobe, Osun, Cross River, Lagos and Plateau.

The ministry said 2,524 people had been affected across the states, 131 samples confirmed in the laboratory with majority as meningitides type C, and 328 deaths recorded so far.

The outbreak started in Zamfara in November, 2016.‎

The ministry has, however, advised Nigerians to remain calm as the disease is preventable and curable if presented early.

IUCN report seeks new World Heritage sites in Arctic Circle to protect species

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IUCN report seeks new World Heritage sites in Arctic Circle to protect species

The Arctic Ocean urgently needs protection as melting sea ice is opening up previously inaccessible areas to activities such as shipping, bottom trawl fishing and oil exploration, according to a scientific report launched on Tuesday, April 4, 2017 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), in partnership with the US-based Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre.

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Scoresby Sound Polynya Ecoregion, one of the sites identified in the report that could potentially qualify for World Heritage status, supports a stock of the critically endangered bowhead whale

The report identifies seven globally significant marine sites in the Arctic Ocean that warrant protection and could potentially qualify for World Heritage status.

“The Arctic Ocean plays a crucial role in shaping global climate and hosts a diverse range of species, many of them threatened,” says Carl Gustaf Lundin, Director of IUCN’s Global Marine and Polar Programme. “The World Heritage Convention has great potential to increase global recognition and protection of the region’s most exceptional habitats.”

The Arctic Ocean stretches across the northernmost side of the planet, spanning 14 million square kilometers. Its icy waters are home to wildlife found nowhere else on the planet, including bowhead whales, narwhals and walruses. As one of the most pristine oceans on Earth, it provides critical habitat for threatened species, such as polar bears and Atlantic puffins, both assessed as vulnerable by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

However, climate change is posing a serious threat to the Arctic region, which is warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet. Rapidly melting sea ice is opening up previously inaccessible areas to potential new shipping routes, oil and gas development and industrial fishing. These changes increase the urgency of improving mankind’s understanding and effective conservation of the Arctic’s globally unique marine ecosystems.

“Our Arctic Ocean conservation efforts are not keeping pace with the loss of ice and encroaching economic development, and this is putting our shared heritage in jeopardy,” says Lisa Speer of NRDC. “We need to protect the region’s most important ecological hotspots from industrial fishing, offshore oil and gas development and other damaging human activity to give the region’s globally unique wildlife the best possible chance of survival.”

The sites identified in the report that could potentially qualify for World Heritage status include: the Remnant Multi-Year Sea Ice and  Northeast Water Polynya Ecoregion, which boasts the oldest and thickest ice in the Arctic and may give polar bears the greatest chance of survival through the 21st century; the Bering Strait Ecoregion, one of the world’s great migration corridors for millions of seabirds and marine mammals; the Northern Baffin Bay Ecoregion, which supports the largest aggregation of a single species of seabird, the little auk; the Scoresby Sound Polynya Ecoregion, the world’s largest fjord system which supports the Critically Endangered Spitsbergen stock of bowhead whale; the High Arctic Archipelagos, which support 85% of the world’s population of ivory gulls; Disko Bay and Store Hellefiskebanke Ecoregion, a critical winter habitat for the West Greenland walrus and hundreds of thousands of king eiders; and the Great Siberian Polynya, where the seasonal formation and melting of ice influences oceanic processes on a large scale.

“The Arctic Ocean’s beauty and bounty are unparalleled,” says Mechtild Rössler, Director of UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre. “From the sea life superhighway of the Bering Strait to the breath-taking fjords of Scoresby Sound, this region is unlike any other on the planet. This new report highlights seven possible treasures in the Arctic Ocean that need conservation efforts to keep pace with climate change.”

Currently, there are five World Heritage sites within the Arctic Circle, only one of which is listed for its marine values – Russia’s Natural System of Wrangel Island Reserve. Inscribed in 2004, it boasts the world’s largest population of Pacific walrus, with up to 100,000 animals congregating in the island’s rookeries, and the highest density of ancestral polar bear dens. Research suggests that some humpback whales from the Whale Sanctuary of El Vizcaino in Mexico migrate all the way to the waters around Wrangel Island for summer feeding, highlighting the connections between the Arctic Ocean and World Heritage sites in lower latitudes.

Launched in Monaco, “Natural Marine World Heritage in the Arctic Ocean: Report of an expert workshop and review process” was produced with support from the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and WWF-Canada.

Russia 2018: Babangida advises Super Eagles

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Russia 2018: Babangida advises Super Eagles

Former Nigeria international, Tijani Babangida, says the Super Eagles still have work to do if they must qualify for the Russia 2018 World Cup.

Tijani-Babangida
Tijani Babangida

As some Nigerians celebrate the Super Eagles’ impressive run so far and the team’s likelihood to go through to the tournament, Babangida is however having some reservations.  He believes that the double header against the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon is too crucial an encounter that could decide Nigeria’s fate.

He said: “Cameroon are the African Champions and they are favoured to win both encounter or may secure a draw in Nigeria and then a win in Cameroon.

“But I think that the game would be difficult to predict and would not be an easy one for Nigeria.”

The Super Eagles currently top their qualifying group with six points after two matches, following victories against Zambia and Algeria.

In a related development, coach of Abubakar Bukola Saraki (ABS) Football Club of Ilorin, Henry Makinwa, said he is not disappointed at his side after they lost 0-2 to Abia Warriors in match Week 17 of the Nigerian Professional Football League.

Makinwa, who is confident that his team would bounce back from a recent poor run of form, however agreed that a better side won the game.

“I’m not disappointed, because we have to adapt to the pitch. This is not our kind of game, it has been affecting us, we play a passing game, but when it comes to this kind of pitch, what do you do? You have to change, so it is difficult for us to adapt. It is also hard for them too.

“If we end up in the first 12 on the log, then that will be fantastic for us. We are a small team, we are not Abia Warriors, we are not Enyimba, or Kano Pillars, we are trying our best to be up there,” he concluded.

ABS will play Rivers United on Wednesday, April 5, 2017 in a reschedule match at the Yakubu Gowon Stadium, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

By Felix Simire

Giving indigenous communities title to land protects tropical forests, study finds

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Giving indigenous communities title to land protects tropical forests, study finds

Peer-reviewed study shows deforestation drops dramatically the same year land rights are granted to indigenous communities in Peru

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Peruvian Amazonian indigenous peoples

A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences provides some of the first rigorous peer-reviewed evidence that giving indigenous communities formal legal title to their land protects tropical forests.

The study was conducted by researchers from Resources for the Future (RFF), the Inter-American Development Bank, and the Carnegie Institution for Science. It focuses on the Peruvian Amazon, one of Latin America’s most rapidly shrinking rainforests, where indigenous communities control more than 10 million of hectares of forest.

Using high-resolution satellite images along with statistical methods that control for factors other than titling that affect forest cover, the authors find that titling reduces clearing by more than three-quarters and forest disturbance by roughly two-thirds in a two-year window spanning the year title is awarded and the year afterward. Data constraints prevented the authors from determining whether titling has longer-term effects.

The findings indicate that titling could have an important role to play in global efforts to slow climate change. Tropical deforestation and disturbance are a leading source of global greenhouse gas emissions, contributing about the same share as the transportation sector. And indigenous and other local communities now control a large share of the world’s forests.

The study’s lead author, Dr. Allen Blackman from the Washington, DC, research institution Resources for the Future, said of the findings: “Granting indigenous and other local communities formal title to the forests that have traditionally sustained them is probably the most important trend in tropical forest policy over the past 30 years. These local communities now manage almost a third of all forests in developing countries, over twice the share currently found in government-run protected areas. Yet we know very little about titling’s effects on forest cover.”

“The clear finding of this new study,” he added, “is that in Peru the overall effect is to protect forests. That implies that titling could be an effective forest conservation and climate strategy in other tropical countries, although additional research is needed to test that hypothesis.”

The other members of the research team are Leonardo Corral and Eirivelthon Lima at the Inter-American Development Bank and Greg Asner at the Carnegie Institution for Science.

The RFF is a Washington, DC-based independent, non-partisan organisation that conducts economic research and analysis to improve environmental and natural resource policy.

The Inter-American Development Bank is a leading multilateral institution fostering economic and social development in Latin America and the Caribbean in a sustainable and climate-friendly way.

The Carnegie Institution for Science is an independent non-profit organisation headquartered in Washington, DC that encourages the discovery and the application of knowledge to the improvement of humankind.

UN, Gold Standard seek to hasten progress towards SDGs

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UN, Gold Standard seek to hasten progress towards SDGs

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat and the Gold Standard on Tuesday, April 4, 2017 announced a collaboration to assist organisations, such as corporates, investors, regions, territories and cities, in setting sustainability targets and assessing the sustainable development impacts of their initiatives.

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CEO of Gold Standard, Marion Verles

The partnership will build on the standard-setting experience of both organisations in the areas of impact evaluation of climate and sustainable development (SD) actions.

The ultimate objectives of the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will be achieved only if they are fully recognised as one encompassing agenda. As such, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) need to be tackled in an integrated manner. Moreover, it is also widely recognised that successful implementation can only be achieved by engaging all actors.

Providing all actors with improved ways to easily and cost-effectively analyse, assess and demonstrate their sustainability initiatives is a priority and a key objective of this partnership.

“Governments are central to delivering the SDGs. But the speed and scale of the transformation needed can only happen if supported by all sectors of society,” said James Grabert, Director, UNFCCC secretariat. “Developing those tools and solutions aims at assisting all stakeholders to act concretely towards our common goals, as enshrined in the SDGs,” he added.

“It is clear the achievement of the SDGs is impossible without major participation from the private sector. Business is demonstrating its willingness to ramp up sustainability action, and many companies are already aligning not only their corporate social responsibility policies, but also their core business strategies with the targets defined in the SDGs,” said Gold Standard CEO, Marion Verles.

“What is missing are practical tools to help them contribute in meaningful, measurable and credible ways – and to get recognition for doing so. We hope our new collaboration with the UNFCCC secretariat will encourage and incentivise more ambitious contributions to sustainable development from the private sector,” she concluded.

Specifically, the collaboration will seek to deliver:

  • A decision-making tool for corporate sustainability impact assessments. The tool will include recommended approaches for the formulation of targets and decision-making pathways based on the individual needs of an organisation to measure and report on the impacts achieved;
  • Methodologies and approaches to quantify and report on the impacts of sustainable development actions, including methodologies for use in the context of large scale interventions such as supply chain and city scale interventions; and
  • Technology solutions to reduce the barriers to measuring, quantifying and certifying impacts (including IT based platforms and blockchain based solutions).

Renewable energy sources could be cheaper than fossil fuels within 10 years – UN

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Renewable energy sources could be cheaper than fossil fuels within 10 years – UN

A new United Nations-backed report has revealed overwhelming consensus that renewable power will dominate in the future, with many experts saying that even large international corporations are increasingly choosing renewable energy products either from utilities or through direct investment in their own generating capacity.

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Christine Lins, the Executive Secretary of Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21)

“(The report) is meant to spur discussion and debate about both the opportunities and challenges of achieving a 100 per cent renewable energy future by mid-century,” said Christine Lins, the Executive Secretary of Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21) – a global renewable energy policy multi-stakeholder network hosted by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

“Wishful thinking won’t get us there; only by fully understanding the challenges and engaging in informed debate about how to overcome them, can governments adopt the right policies and financial incentives to accelerate the pace of deployment,” she added.

At a press conference at UN Headquarters on Monday, April 3 2017, Ms. Lins said that 2016 was the third year in a row where the global economy continued to grow, by three per cent, but emissions related to the energy sector decreased. And that was mainly due to renewable energy and efficiency investment in China and in the United States.

“And so, we actually really see that renewables are, on the one hand making their way into the energy systems of many countries, but also we see that we have come a long way. We have a 20 per cent of the world’s final energy consumption nowadays coming from renewables,” she added.

The Renewables Global Futures Report: Great debates towards 100 per cent renewable energy also noted that more than 70 per cent of the experts expressed that a global transition to 100 per cent renewable energy is both feasible and realistic, with European and Australian experts most strongly supporting this view.

The report also found that similar number expected the cost of renewables to continue to fall, beating all fossil fuels within the next 10 years.

Noting some challenges in achieving the 100 per cent transition, the report mentioned that in some regions, most notably Africa, the US and Japan, experts were sceptical about reaching that figure in their own countries or regions by 2050, largely due to the vested interests of the conventional energy industry.

Also, the lack of long-term policy certainty and the absence of a stable climate for investment in energy efficiency and renewables hinder development in most countries, read the report.

“When REN21 was founded in 2004, the future of renewable energy looked very different than it does today,” noted Arthouros Zervos, the Chair of REN21, adding: “at that time, calls for 100 per cent renewable energy were not taken seriously, today the world’s leading energy experts are engaged in rational discussions about its feasibility, and in what time frame.”

The REN21 report is based on interviews with 114 renowned energy experts from all regions of the world.

In addition to governments, REN21 also includes international organisations, industry associations, science and academia and the civil society, as well as UN agencies including the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO).

Renewables assuming greater role in the EU energy mix, says report

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Renewables assuming greater role in the EU energy mix, says report

Wind, solar and other renewable energy sources are steadily increasing their share in energy consumption across the European Union (EU), further reducing the need for CO2-emitting fossil fuel energy, according to a report published by the European Environment Agency (EEA) on Monday, April 3, 2017. This trend, it is gathered, is driving down greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation, buildings’ heating and cooling, and transport.

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Generating energy from waves is a form of renewable energy

The EEA report, titled: “Renewable energy in Europe 2017: Recent growth and knock-on effects,” shows that renewables have become a major contributor to the energy transition occurring in many parts of Europe. Growth in renewables continues to bolster climate change mitigation in the EU. The EU-wide share of renewable energy use increased from 15% in 2013 to 16% in 2014. This upward trend continued also in 2015, as renewable energy accounted for the majority (77%) of new electricity-generating capacity for the eighth year in a row.

Recent data from Eurostat showed that the EU-wide renewable energy use finally reached 16.7% in 2015 – which is close to the EEA’s 16.4% preliminary estimate published in December 2016. This steady EU-wide progress in renewables since 2005 enables the EU to stay well on course to reach its target of 20 % by 2020.

At Member State level, the shares of renewable energy use continues to vary widely, ranging from over 30% in Finland, Latvia and Sweden, to 5% or less in Luxembourg and Malta.

 

Increased reliance on renewables reduces the need for fossil fuels, lowering associated emissions

The uptake of renewable energy since 2005 allowed the EU to cut its fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by about a tenth in 2015 – comparable to the annual fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions of Italy. Three quarters of these greenhouse gas reductions attributable to renewables came from the development of renewable electricity production. Coal was the most substituted fuel across Europe, representing about one half of all avoided fossil fuels, followed by natural gas (28% of all avoided fossil fuels). In both 2014 and 2015, the largest reductions in fossil fuel use and CO2 emissions due to the uptake of renewable energy sources took place in Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom.

 

Renewables catching on worldwide

Global investments in renewables continued to show steady growth over the past decade. This has led to a doubling of global renewable electricity capacity between 2005 and 2015. The EU plays a leading role in developing clean energy technology and is ranked second after China in installed and grid-connected domestic renewable electricity capacity. Still, some non-EU countries are seeing faster progress, something observed also in terms of the share of renewable-energy related jobs in the labour force where in 2015 the EU was overtaken by other countries, such as Japan and China.

The EU and its Member States will need to step-up their climate and energy efforts if they want to meet EU ambitions to become a sustainable, low-carbon economy by 2050, the report says. Key challenges remain, including the formulation of adequate policies that deliver targets, agreeing on an EU monitoring system and improving innovation capabilities to reap the full benefits of the energy transition in Europe.

Crusaders tag Trump’s climate Executive Order ‘an injustice to Mother Earth’

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Crusaders tag Trump’s climate Executive Order ‘an injustice to Mother Earth’

President Trump’s Executive Order on Climate Change will have far reaching impacts on many developing countries, especially on the African continent, which is already bearing the brunt of the negative impacts of climate change.

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With coal miners gathered around him, Trump signed an Executive Order rolling back a temporary ban on mining coal and a stream protection rule imposed by the Obama administration

African Civil Society, under the umbrella of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), says reversing the Obama climate plan is one of the greatest injustices and an onslaught on Mother Earth, especially in the fight against climate change.

The Energy Independence Executive Order, signed by US President, Donald Trump on March 29, 2017, has been hailed by groups in the fossil fuels business, but condemned by environmental campaigners as over a dozen measures enacted by President Obama to curb climate change have been suspended.

“Trump’s Climate Change Executive Order is rolling back the many years of global efforts that yielded the Convention and the Paris Agreement. The global community and other world leaders should resist the temptation of following the footstep of Trump to take the world several steps back in the fight against climate change,” said Mithika Mwenda, PACJA Secretary-General.

For a safer world, countries that are party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement will urgently need to raise their ambition to increase the level of their greenhouse emission reduction targets communicated to the UNFCCC and keeping the global temperature to below 1.5OC.

The current aggregate level of the communicated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are estimated to lead to the average global temperature increase above 30C by 2030, unless radical emissions reduction targets are urgently adopted by Parties.

The NDC of the United State of America submitted to the UNFCCC on March 31, 2015 commits USA to cutting its greenhouse gas emissions by 26%–28% below the 2005 level by 2025.

The US effort constitutes a part to the global comity of nations’ efforts to keep the planet safe.

“As one of the major contributors to the greenhouse gas emissions, the US continues to owe a huge ecological debt that can only be paid by the demonstration that it is committed to servicing this climate debt in an equitable, fair and just manner. Such efforts should align with the principle of Common But Differentiated Responsibility and Respective Capacity (CBDRC) of the Convention,” said a statement from PACJA.

African Civil Society is worried efforts to improve people’s vulnerability to climate change are being eroded by Trump’s Executive Order.

Currently, impacts of drought and famine in the Horn of Africa have led to deaths of humans and livestock in the region. Farmers in most parts of the Africa are feeling impacts of the changing climate in their agricultural production and productivity.

According to Sam Ogallah, Programme’s Manager at PACJA, Trump’s action on climate change is likely to exacerbate the current migrant crisis.

“Climate change impacts are pushing many youth out of developing countries in search of better lives in developed countries. Some of these youth in an attempt to migrate to Europe have lost their lives. Addressing climate change in developing countries can go a long way to solving migrant crisis in Europe and other developed countries,” he said.

Courtesy: PAMACC News Agency

Meningitis: Lagos alerts residents

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Meningitis: Lagos alerts residents

The Lagos State Government has alerted members of the public on the dangers of Cerebro Spinal Meningitis and urged them to report any suspected case to the nearest public health facility.

Jide-Idris
Commissioner for Health, Lagos State, Dr. Jide Idris

A new strain of CSM causative agent, Neisseria Meningitides type C, which is slightly different from the causative agent of the seasonal CSM in Nigeria, has affected no fewer than 16 states in the country.

Commissioner for Health, Lagos State, Dr. Jide Idris, explained that CSM is a dangerous and life threatening disease that affects the thin layers of the tissue around the brain and spinal cord of an infected human person and it is caused by bacteria.

Idirs added that Cerebro Spinal Meningitis is an epidemic prone disease that spreads from person to person through contact with discharges or droplets from nose and throat of an infected person.

It can also be transmitted through kissing, sneezing and coughing, especially amongst people living in close quarters, hotels, refugee camp, barracks, public transportation and areas with poor ventilation or overcrowded places.

Idris noted that though seasonal, Meningitis outbreak usually affects the mainly Northern states that fall within the meningitis belt of the country, it is not impossible that outbreaks can occur in any part of the country, Lagos inclusive, in view of the phenomenal climatic change as well as the high human migration.

The Commissioner added that no case of CSM has been recorded in Lagos State contrary to what has been published.
He added: “However as a responsive government, we deem it fit to alert the public.”
Idris explained that the disease usually presents with high body temperature, pain and stiffness of the neck, headache, vomiting, fear of light, restlessness and confusion stressed that death may occur if not promptly and properly managed.

The Commissioner therefore emphasized the need for the observance of high standards of personal and environmental hygiene as a preventive measure against the disease.

He also noted that such measures should include washing of hands with soap and water frequently, avoiding direct contact with the discharges from an infected person and covering of the mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing.

“It is strongly advised for people to avoid overcrowding in living quarters, provide cross ventilation in sleeping and work-rooms and other places where many people come together and get vaccinated with CSM vaccine when you are travelling to areas where Meningitis outbreaks have been reported,” he added.

Idris noted that health workers in the state, especially health workers in the hospitals, the State Epidemiology team and the Disease Surveillance and Notification Officers in all the 57 Local Governments and Local Council Development Areas, have been placed on high alert and therefore the disease surveillance and monitoring activities have since been intensified.

He said: “Health workers are also advised to avoid close contact with suspected and probable cases of CSM based on the case definition distributed, ensure proper disposal of respiratory and throats secretions of cases, report suspected or probable cases, observe universal safety precautionary measures and make use of personal protective equipment when in contact with such cases as highlighted in the Fact-Sheets earlier forwarded to them.”

While urging residents to take responsibility for their health and report persons with the above symptoms to the nearest public health facility or the Ministry of Health, the Commissioner stated that the state government had put in place all the above measures towards avoidance and prevention of outbreak of CSM in Lagos State.

Idris advised the general public to remain calm and report suspected cases to the nearest public health facility or contact Disease Surveillance Officers of the Ministry of Heath on the following GSM numbers: 08037170614, 09087106072, 08023169485, 08052817243, 08026441681.

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