UNICEF flags off U-Report platform to swipe out cholera initiative in Borno
By Tada Jutha, Maiduguri
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has launched the “Swipe Out Cholera” initiative in Borno State.
According to the UN agency, students of institutions of higher learning are agents of change on campus and in various communities.
Flagging of the U-Report platform on Tuesday, in Maiduguri, the UNICEF Chief of Field Office, Joseph Senesie, disclosed that, “Today’s swipe out cholera initiative is a dialogue among students of the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) on how to prevent cholera and its awareness in the state.
Senesie said that the students’ roles in the preventative measures against cholera would be impactful in reducing the perennial death tolls in the state.
He lamented that the cholera death tolls in 2023 hit 394,” adding that there are 288 confirmed cases with 106 suspected deaths between September and December 2022 in Borno.
Highlighting the roles of students with the UNICEF U-Report platform, Senesie stated, “As from today, you’re agents of change on how to prevent cholera not only in the university community” but in the tens of thousands of households across the state.
The UNICEF Chief, therefore, urged the students at the Indimi International Conference Centre to pass on the messages of preventing outbreaks of cholera on campus and in communities. “Download the application of the U-Report to swipe out cholera from Borno State and the country,” he declared.
Nine students also won prizes supported by MTN on how to download the UNICEF U-Report platform in preventing the outbreaks of cholera in their communities.
Ramotalatu Ali Omolabske won an Infinix handset phone at the “Swipe Out Cholera” initiative that attracted over 4,500 students.
