FG: Nigeria Accounts for 23% of Tuberculosis Deaths in Africa

•$300m needed to bridge funding gap, says NTBLCP

Onyebuchi Ezigbo

The National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme, (NTBLCP) has said Nigeria alone accounts for 23 percent of deaths resulting from Tuberculosis in Africa.

It also revealed that about $300 million would be required to fill the funding gap for intervention efforts geared towards ending tuberculosis scourge in Nigeria.

It also disclosed that undetected TB carriers in the country were capable of infecting between 12 per cent and 15 percent of the nation’s population annually.

The National Coordinator of NTBLCP, Dr. Laraban Shehu, said this while speaking yesterday, at the 2024 Pre-World TB Day press conference in Abuja. He also revealed that one person dies of tuberculosis disease in every five minutes in the country.

The National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme, NTBLCP was established in 1989 by the Government of Nigeria to coordinate TB and leprosy control efforts in the country.

While advising persons experiencing cough for more than a week to approach hospitals to check the nature of the disease, Shehu regretted that Nigeria still has a huge funding gap for TB.

Shehu, who regretted that Nigeria still has a huge funding gap as 17 percent of its TB budget was not funded, disclosed that the country requires $300 million to bridge the gap.

“The meaning of this is that in Nigeria, every five minutes, one person dies of TB. So this is the disease killing people more than the number of people that died of COVID. And the regrettable thing is that this is a disease that is curable and can be prevented.

“In Nigeria, over 70 per cent of people with this disease have spent what they have just to treat TB. This is happening because people are not aware that the drugs are there free. They don’t go to the right place to access drugs.

“We have adequate resources but no adequate political commitment. There is a huge funding gap for TB in Nigeria. Over 17 per cent of TB budget is not funded. That means we are not able to take these services to every nook and cranny of Nigeria,” he added.

On his part, the Director, Public Health, Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Chukuma Anyaike, described the 2024 World Tuberculosis Day celebration as a special one, given that the country has a new government determined to tackle diseases of public concerns.

“The 2024 World Tuberculosis Day celebration is special, special in the sense that there is a new government on ground that is passionate and have a lot of interest in diseases of public health importance, especially diseases like Tuberculosis, HIV, Malaria, among others.

“The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare is up and doing. He came in with a four-point agenda, given that you are not expecting less from him.

“There is definitely going to be improvement in resource mobilisation, advocacy and of course, support from the Federal Ministry of Health to the TB Control Programme.

“I must appreciate and thank our partner, the Stop TB Partnership. People must know that TB is curable and that it is free. We need support of everyone to stop the disease in Nigeria,” he said.

Chairman of the 2024 World Tuberculosis Day, Dr. Bolatito Aiyenigba, called for support from the 774 local government areas across the country in eradicating Tuberculosis.

He said the committee had gone to schools to educate students and teachers about tuberculosis, just as she assured that it would extend the same exercise to Kuje Prison to screen inmates on the disease and apply free HIV screening.

In his remarks, Executive Director, KNCV Nigeria, Dr. Bethrand Odume, said this this year’s theme of World TB Day 2024, “Yes! We Can End TB-“No gree for TB, Check am O,” aptly conveyed the urgent need to come together and ramp up the fight against TB, to achieve commitments to end TB by 2030.