Health Crisis: Tuberculosis kills 18 Nigerians per hour as Yobe diagnoses 485 cases

*The Federal Ministry of Health says Nigeria is ranked 1st in Africa in terms of countries with Tuberculosis burdens and 6th globally, despite that diagnosis and treatment of the disease are free in the government’s health facility in the country

Alexander Davis | ConsumerConnect

The Federal Government has stated that most Nigerians are not aware of Tuberculosis (TB), saying no Nigerian should die of TB when the treatment and diagnosis are free in the government health facility in the country.

Mrs. Itohowo Uko, National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Director in the Federal Ministry of Health, said Tuberculosis kills 18 Nigerians every hour.

Uko, who disclosed this at a virtual media engagement with health reporters from seven states of the Federation, noted that the figure was based on World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Global report 2020.

The Director of National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control also said that 150,000 Nigerians were killed by Tuberculosis across the country in 2019.

Speaking at a media engagement with health reporters from seven states via Zoom, Mrs. Uko said 138,573 TB cases have been identified in Nigeria in 2020 with the patients placed on treatment.

Nigeria is ranked 1st in Africa in terms of countries with TB burdens and 6th globally, she stated.

She said: “Most Nigerians are not aware of TB and so we believed no Nigerian should die of TB when the treatment and diagnosis are free in the government health facility.

“So, we brought media practitioners to help educate the general public about TB.”

According to her, the aim is to free Nigeria from TB, saying there were a lot of Nigerians with TB yet to be identified.

The aim of the training is to expand the pool of media report personnel on reporting TB in the country as well as improve the knowledge of media personnel on TB, Uko said.

She added the training would equally build the capacity of the participants and for them to know and understand the burden of TB in Nigeria.

In a related development, Dr. Garba Audu, Yobe State Programme Officer, Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control, has said that in the last quarter, the state was able to discover 485 cases of Tuberculosis in the 17 Local Government Areas of Yobe State after diagnosing people with the most standard diagnosing tool (Gene Xpert machine).

It was gathered Dr. Audu stated the patients have since been placed on proper medication and treatment.

“The highest burden local governments are Potiskum, Damaturu and Gashua.”

On the current challenges of the disease, the Programme Officer explained that COVID-19 pandemic is the greatest challenge to Tuberculosis case “simply because of the similarities in signs and symptoms, they both present with cough, fever, body weakness among others”.

The state is proactive and working closely with the local government focal persons across the LGAs and in the 183 health facilities which comprises private and public ones, he said.

Audu, therefore, appealed to media professionals in the state to assist the government in the enlightenment and sensitisation programmes to enable them get rid of the disease.

Kindly Share This Story