WHO, OTHERS SEEK MORE FUNDING TO TACKLE TUBERCULOSIS IN NIGERIA

It is spread from person to person through the air.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation ranks sixth amongst 30 countries globally with the highest burden of the disease.

Nigeria also ranks first in Africa in the number of undetected cases.

World Tuberculosis Day is marked on March 24 every year to create awareness about the impact of the disease.

The 2024 WTBD is themed “Yes, we can end TB” and Nigeria’s slogan is “No gree for TB, check am o.”

Speaking at the event, a representative of the WHO, Dr Amos Omoniyi, noted that TB is a killer-disease globally, with millions of deaths recorded annually.

Omoniyi said in 2022, Africa reported approximately 2.4 million cases of TB, with Nigeria contributing 479,000 cases (19 per cent ).

He said out of the 424,000 TB-related deaths in Africa same year, 97,900 (23 per cent) occurred in Nigeria.

According to him, one person dies of TB every five minutes in Nigeria despite being a curable disease.

“It is very sad and painful that people still die from TB every day despite being a curable disease,” he said.

Omoniyi noted that despite accounting for the high burden of the disease, Nigeria still has a 70 per cent funding gap in TB.

“This killer-disease is curable, preventable and can be eradicated if the government at all levels can invest more into tackling TB,” he said.

Also, the Executive Director of KNCV TB Foundation Nigeria, Dr Bethrand Odume, said the theme conveys the urgent need to come together and ramp up the fight against TB to achieve commitments to end the disease by 2030.

Odume said it is a continuation of last year’s World TB Day theme which brings attention to TB and our collective power to achieve the 2023 UN High-Level Meeting on TB Political Declaration targets, which will put the world on course to end TB by 2030.

“It brings hope and builds on the amazing work done in 2023 by many TB High Burden Countries and TB Champions around the world who continue to make incredible strides to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic by increasing access to TB treatment and prevention,” he said.

He stated that the theme also revolves around the increased engagement of those affected by TB, communities and civil society who are leading the movement towards ending this disease.

He said it also identifies progress made in research and development – many new TB diagnosis tools, shorter, more efficient treatment, and preventive regimens, as well as several vaccines in phase three clinical trials.