By Hassan John
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that Nigeria has made considerable progress in the fight against Tuberculosis (TB) but, however, warned that the progress is not good enough as Nigeria still has a lot of missing cases of the disease.
The WHO National Professional Officer for TB, Dr. Enang Oyama, stated this at a pre-World TB Day media briefing in Abuja, on Thursday.
The media briefing was put together the National TB and Leprosy Control Programme (NTBLCP) and the Stop TB Partnership, Nigeria.
While assuring that WHO will continue to support Nigeria in its efforts towards ending TB, Dr. Oyama, however, said: “Nigeria has made progress in case notification in the last five years from over 207,785 in 2021 to over 285,000, representing a 37 per cent increase.
“Sadly, we still have 171,159 missing TB cases. This large number are reservoirs that fuel ongoing transmission in the community. One Person can infect between 12 to 15 people a year. Also, HIV and Drug Resistant TB further complicate the reduction of TB in Nigeria.
“TB control projects are drastically underfunded. 69 per cent of TB projects in 2021 were unfunded. This is a major setback, as many people are pushed into poverty when they contract TB due to catastrophic costs. There is a need to increase funding for TB.”
On his part, the Executive Director of KNCV Nigeria, Dr. Bethrand Odume, insisted that TB funding remains a key challenge in Nigeria.
Dr. Odume who is the chairman of the 2023 National World TB Day planning committee, reiterated that: “Funding for TB has remained a key challenge to support program activities towards closing the TB treatment coverage gap which stands at 66 per cent as at the end of 2021.
“At a 69 per cent funding gap, and over reliance on external donor agencies for funding, sustaining the TB program in Nigeria will continue to remain a challenge.
“We will at this year’s World TB Day celebration continue to reach out to the government and the private sector to galvanize efforts at increasing domestic resources for the control of TB in Nigeria.”
It would be recalled that the Stop TB Partnership Nigeria in an advisory two days ago regretted that a considerable percentage of the funds for the fight against the disease is donor-driven.
“Of the $373 million needed for TB control in Nigeria in the year 2020, only 31% was available to all the implementers of TB control activities in Nigeria (7% domestic and 24% donor funds), with a 69% funding gap.
“The 7% domestic contribution is mainly for personnel,” the group said.
Nigeria, the group revealed, has a high triple burden of TB, Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (DR-TB) and HIV-associated TB, and is one of the 10 countries that contribute the highest number of missing TB cases globally
According to the Stop TB Partnership, Nigeria also ranks first in Africa and sixth in the world, accounting for about 4.6% of the global TB burden
“An estimated 15 Nigerians die each hour due to TB, equivalent to about 347 deaths daily, 10,417 monthly and 125,000 in a year.
“Nigeria’s TB incidence rate is about 219 in a 100,000 population with an estimated total of 467,000 persons who have active TB disease. In 2021, the National TB, Leprosy and Buruli Ulcer Control Program (NTBLCP) notified 207,785 having a gap of 56% of the estimated cases unidentified.
“In 2021 about 2,975 DR-TB cases were diagnosed out of an estimated 21,000 cases in the country, leaving out more than 80% of the resistant cases missing
“Whereas Directly Observed Treatment short course (DOTs) clinics for TB treatment and care are available in up to 50% of health facilities in Nigeria, only 9% of these have facilities for laboratory diagnosis of TB infection and disease,” the group said.
