Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, reiterated on March 24, 2023, his commitment to work tirelessly with all stakeholders towards eradicating tuberculosis (TB) in Nigeria. He lamented that there is a high burden of this disease in Nigeria, he also added that there is a significant gap in some critical aspects of Nigeria’s national response to the bacteria. He made this known at a ministerial press briefing in commemoration of the 2023 World Tuberculosis Day in Abuja.
The minister, who was represented by the Minister of State for Health, Ekumankama Joseph Nkama, revealed that Nigeria ranked fifth among the highest burdened nations in the world. “It is an important milestone in our efforts to end the epidemic, it is a deadly but curable disease.” World TB Day is a global event commemorated annually on the 24th of March to raise public awareness on efforts made to prevent and treat the disease. It also affords the ministry an opportunity to assess progress towards achieving the End Tuberculosis strategy and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Nigeria is ranked 1st in Africa in terms of cases.
Ehanire said this is a global health problem that is affecting Nigeria. According to the 2022 World Health Organization Global Report, Nigeria is ranked sixth globally and first in Africa with an estimated 467,000 TB cases in 2021. Nigeria also ranks fifth in the world among countries with the highest burden of childhood cases. The country is equally one of the 10 countries in the world with a triple burden of drug-resistant variations and HIV-associated cases.
The minister said that the main factors responsible for this outbreak in the country are undernutrition, HIV, diabetes mellitus, smoking and alcohol use. The age groups most affected are 15 to 44 years. He said the major challenge surrounding this bacteria is low public awareness, as only one out of every four Nigerians has adequate knowledge of TB. The minister stressed that the Nigerian government has prioritized ending tuberculosis in the country.
Nigeria has put in place some control interventions.
Based on the statistics, ending this epidemic is a top priority of the federal Government, as it is making efforts to ensure good health and well-being for all Nigerians as projected in SDG-3. The Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) has, through the NTBLCP and with the support of the ministry’s committed and dependable partners, initiated a number of laudable TB control interventions. He said that the country has put n place a number of relevant policy documents to chart a strategic direction for the control of the infection.
“These include the National Guidelines for Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment, the National Strategic Plan (NSP-2021-2025), and the compendium of best practices among others,” he said. He further noted that the Nigerian government has adopted and is scaling up new global innovations in every sphere of the response to ensure improved access and “the efficiency of the interventions.” For instance, he said that the mobile digital x-ray with artificial intelligence for TB screening among key and vulnerable populations, is being strategically scaled up across the country. He said the GeneXpert equipment – a rapid molecular testing solution, has increased from 32 in 2012 to 503 in 2022.
Tuberculosis is air-borne and very deadly, killing 5% of latent infections.
This infectious disease which is usually caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) bacteria, generally affects the lungs but can also affect other body parts. Most infections show no symptoms, this is known as latent TB. Around ten percent of latent infections progress to active disease and if left untreated, half of those affected die. Typical symptoms of an active infection are chronic cough alongside bloodied mucus, fever, night sweats, and weight loss. The disease killed about 1.5 million people in 2020.
Related Link
Wikipedia: Website
Fact-Checking Tool – Snopes.com
FG committed to tackling TB in Nigeria – Nigeria ranks 5th highest tuberculosis-burdened nations in the world. – Express your point of view.
TB is a dangerous disease which can be contacted through air and lots of effort has been made since long time ago by both international organisations and Nigeria government to eradicate it and there lots of changes.
Tuberculosis is a serious disease. I’m happy we are also ensuring we do all we can to fight against it. We should also research well about the diseases, so we can get lasting solutions to them.
The country’s high burden of TB is attributed to factors such as a weak healthcare system, poverty, overcrowding, low TB awareness, inadequate resources, and inadequate funding for TB control programs. The FG should proffer solutions.
It is so sad that Nigeria that has the best brains is now ranked in 5th position in the world with cases of TB and also 1st in Africa. It is not enough for FG to have every thing to tackle TB but massive awareness should be created in regards to that.
The ranking of Nigeria in the 5th position in the World and 1st in Africa of TB infection is an indication of it prevalence in the country. FG should not make provision in tackling it alone but massive awareness should be employed too. To awaken the masses and educate them of it danger.
FG committed to tackling TB in Nigeria. tuberculosis is a very dangerous disease. We can do our best to reduce it. A lot of people are suffering from the disease. We also need to create more awareness to the public and how to prevent it. Regular check up is very important
It’s encouraging that the Nigerian government and foreign organizations have been working hard to address the problem for a long time now.
I am pleased to learn that the our administration has designated the eradication of tuberculosis in the country a priority and that our government is taking the appropriate steps to tackle this issue.
Fighting this dangerous disease is important which is easily to contact tackling it well so it can be eradicate from the country
This is a good thing FG committed to tackling tuberculosis because is not a simple disease that should be joke with our government should try their possible best to stop this disease and not to hear about it in our country again
The fact that the government of Nigeria and international organisations have been working tirelessly to solve this issue for years is quite promising.
The most significant obstacle posed by this pathogen is insufficient knowledge of the disease, and people should possess a sufficient understanding of tuberculosis.
Networked communication x-rays equipped with machine learning are being carefully ramped up around the country for the purpose of conducting tuberculosis screenings among essential and weaker sections of the society.
I’m relieved to know that the government here is making it a priority to eliminate tuberculosis and is taking the necessary measures to do so.
Nigeria needs to guarantees we’ll give it the best fight we’ve got. We also need to do deep analysis on the diseases to find long-term remedies for them.
Tuberculosis is a deadly disease that should not be given second thought before combatting in a country. Those that have the disease are really suffering government needs to improve effort on fighting it,
The government of Nigeria and international organizations have worked tirelessly for decades to eliminate tuberculosis (TB), a potentially fatal airborne disease.
Nigeria’s FG needs to commit to fighting TB there. The disease TB is extremely harmful. We can attempt to lessen it. The sickness is affecting a large number of people. Also, we need to raise the general public’s understanding of how to prevent it.
Tuberculosis is really a dangerous ailment which could lead to loss of life. It’s commendable that the government has given this situation more priority. Health facilities and diseases control center hands should be on deck