Plateau, UNICEF Intensify Cholera Response Through CATI
By Comfort Pius, Jos
The Plateau State Government, in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has intensified efforts to contain the ongoing cholera outbreak through Case Area Targeted Intervention (CATI), a community-based approach designed to provide rapid response to confirmed cases and prevent further transmission.
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The intervention was highlighted on Thursday during a CATI training and cholera preparedness and response activities in Jos, where officials said the approach combines health services, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), social mobilisation and behaviour-change interventions to strengthen the state’s capacity to respond effectively at community level.
UNICEF Chief of Field Office, Bauchi, Dr. Nusrat Rafiq, said cholera cases had been reported in Barkin Ladi, Bokkos, Mangu, Jos North and Jos South Local Government Areas, making the areas priority locations for preparedness and response activities.
Rafiq said the Plateau State Government, through relevant ministries, departments and agencies, was leading the response, with UNICEF providing technical and operational support to reduce cases and deaths while strengthening systems to prevent future outbreaks.
According to her, CATI enables response teams to move rapidly into communities whenever a cholera case is identified and implement a package of targeted interventions around the affected area.
“These interventions combine health services, water, sanitation and hygiene, social mobilisation, and behaviour-change activities,” she said.
Rafiq explained that the approach was critical because cholera prevention could not be achieved through the health sector alone, stressing that effective containment required a multisectoral response involving government agencies, development partners and communities.
She said UNICEF was supporting the government with water purification, chlorination of water sources, distribution of Aquatabs and hygiene kits to affected families, as well as support for cholera treatment centres and isolation units.
She added that cholera vaccines had also been made available for affected local government areas as part of broader efforts to strengthen preparedness and response.
Rafiq urged traditional rulers, religious leaders and community members to actively support the intervention by promoting proper sanitation, hygiene and other healthy practices.
She said community participation was essential to building resilience and ensuring that cholera prevention measures were sustained beyond the immediate outbreak response.
Also speaking, the Director-General of the Plateau State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA), Engr. Godfrey Dashuhar, said the CATI training was organised to equip response teams with the skills required to rapidly identify risks and intervene in communities where cholera cases were reported.
Dashuhar said cholera was first recorded in Bokkos Local Government Area last year and, although the state responded to the outbreak, the disease resurfaced in Mangu this year.
He said the state government, through RUWASSA and other relevant agencies, was working with UNICEF and health-sector partners to prevent further transmission by strengthening WASH interventions in affected and high-risk communities.
According to him, CATI training was conducted for response teams from Bokkos, Mangu, Barkin Ladi, Jos North and Jos South local government areas.
He explained that the CATI approach was being implemented simultaneously in Rikkos and Angwan Rukuba communities in Jos North, but with different objectives based on the level of risk.
“Rikkos is an area where cholera cases have already been recorded, while Angwan Rukuba was selected as a preventive intervention because it is considered a community at risk, even though no confirmed cases have been recorded there yet,” he said.
Dashuhar said the distinction demonstrated the importance of CATI in ensuring that cholera response was not limited to treating confirmed cases but also included preventive action in communities considered vulnerable to transmission.
He appealed to communities and local government authorities to cooperate with response teams, stressing that community ownership and participation were critical to the success of the intervention.
The RUWASSA Director-General said the combined efforts of the state government, UNICEF, health workers, WASH officials and communities would strengthen Plateau’s capacity to contain the current outbreak and respond more effectively to future public health threats.
Meanwhile, Rafiq commended the Plateau State Government and relevant agencies for their commitment to the cholera response, assuring that UNICEF would continue to provide technical support to strengthen the state’s preparedness and response systems.
She said the ongoing intervention underscored the importance of resilient communities that could adopt safe water, sanitation and hygiene practices and work closely with government response teams.
Rafiq said similar preparedness and response interventions were also being implemented in Bauchi State, where cholera cases and deaths had been reported.
She urged residents in affected and high-risk communities to cooperate with health and WASH officials and adhere to recommended hygiene practices to prevent further spread of the disease.
