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The Executive Director of the KNCV TB Foundation Nigeria, Dr Berthrand Odume has said spreading messages on Tuberculosis prevention and control to people living in rural communities was very crucial to meeting the global target for TB case-control in Nigeria.
Odume who spoke during a road show and awareness programme organised in collaboration with other partners as part of activities to mark the 2023 world TB Day on Wednesday in Abuja, noted that available data shows that 40 percent of TB cases being recorded in the country were coming from the rural communities.
He said: “Sincerely, for us to meet the global target for TB case control in Nigeria, the people in the rural communities need to be considered and brought on our back.
“Most of the cases we are seeing presently are actually coming from the community. That is why we have intensified efforts with our partners to ensure that we push TB case finding within the Community.”
Deputy Project Director Tuberculosis and Malaria, Breakthrough Action Nigeria, Dr Bolatito Ayanika who urged Nigerians to explore the free TB tests and treatment available nationwide, noted that the campaign against TB was going a step further to ensure everyone gets involved in the prevention and control of the disease.
“We need to make sure people actually understand what TB is all about, we want them to get involved, we want them to be advocates, we want them to be their brothers’ keeper, we want them to go out and tell other people and when they see anybody that is coughing for two weeks or more, we want them to help the person to get help.
“We want people to know that if they go to a place and somebody is charging money, there is help; you can go and call 3340 and say I want the free test, I want free treatment.
“The good thing is that we have been making progress. If you see the Data from the National Tuberculosis Control program, before now we had only 24% notification rates.
“Now we are almost up to 50% but you know our target is 100% so we want everybody with tuberculosis to get help, and get treated until they are cured.
“Also, we want anybody around them to be put on preventive treatment so that they don’t come down with the disease.”
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