Nigeria: Gombe PDP Politicising Diphtheria Outbreak - APC

What the report says

The Gombe State chapter of Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress has accused the opposition Peoples Democratic Party of turning the state’s diphtheria outbreak into a political issue. In a statement cited by Vanguard and distributed by AllAfrica, the APC said the PDP’s comments showed poor judgment at a time when health workers, authorities and development partners were trying to contain the disease.

According to the APC, the response in Gombe has been coordinated through the Public Health Emergency Operations Centre and other health agencies. The party said the measures include public risk communication, active case finding, isolation and evacuation of suspected and confirmed patients, free treatment at designated hospitals and reactive vaccination campaigns in affected areas.

The APC also said more than one million children between the ages of two and 15 had been vaccinated in affected communities, and that an additional 350,000 vaccine doses supplied by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency had been distributed. It argued that these steps show an active government response rather than indifference.

The statement further defended Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya’s administration, saying it has invested in primary healthcare, disease surveillance and health staffing. The APC said the state is working with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organisation and UNICEF. It urged political actors to avoid remarks that could weaken public confidence or complicate outbreak control. For context, diphtheria is a serious infectious disease that typically requires rapid public health action to limit spread.