Tackling TB, HIV Scourge

The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) on March 24, raised serious concerns over rising spate of tu-berculosis and HIV infections and spread in Nigeria, saying that while significant progress has been made globally in the fight against the two diseases, Nigeria still topped the list of TB most infected nations in Africa and 10th in the world while ranking second in HIV prevalence on the global scale.

Speaking at the forum to mark 2013 World Tuberculosis Day, with the theme: “Stop TB In My Life Time”, in Lagos, President of NMA, Dr Osahon Enabulele, charged the Federal Government to make the fight against TB one of the priority projects of the centenary anniversary by massively investing in TB research activities towards the discovery of the much-needed anti-TB vaccine, while increasing budgetary allocations to programmes aimed at reducing the scourge of HIV/AIDS.

Enabulele revealed that there are more than 84,263 new infections and 27,000 deaths annually from tuberculosis, adding that those most vulnerable are between 25 and 34 years, representing 36.6 per cent of all infected, with Lagos, Kano, Oyo and Benue states harbouring the highest infections rate, and Ekiti and Bayelsa states with the lowest rate of infection.

He decried the lack of drugs and modern treatment facilities to treat TB, saying that the fact that it is an entirely preventable and easily curable disease, if simple public health regulations, hygiene practices and treatment guidelines are adhered to, makes the difficulties being faced in fighting the disease more disheartening and called on government to establish National Centre for Disease Control for effective surveillance and control of diseases.

While regretting that international funding allocations have dropped from 48 per cent in the previous year to 42 per cent with marginal rise from domestic budgetary allocation from 28 per cent to 30 per cent in the face of heightening spread of the disease, he said it may be impossible for Nigeria to achieve the goal of 50 per cent reduction in prevalence and death from TB, if aligned with the 1990 baseline by 2015, let alone eliminating it as a public health problem by 2050.

Enabulele’s concern was again, corroborated by Head, Grant Management Division of Global Fund, Mark Edington in Lagos, at the signing of $335million five grant agreements to march Federal Government’s ‘Saving One Million Lives’ $500million allocation to support programmes aimed at curbing AIDS, TB and malaria pandemic in Nigeria by 2015. Edington revealed that the country had second highest prevalence of people living with HIV in the world, with only 30 per cent of those requiring treatment having access to anti-retroviral therapy.

He noted that HIV epidemic in Nigeria is highly concentrated among high-risk groups with 20 per cent of infections attributed to female sex workers while injecting drug users and men who have sex with men account for 9 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively, of annual new infections, adding that the grant resources will be targeted to achieve very significant increase in number of patients receiving anti-retroviral therapy and prevention of mother-to-child transmission services.

The Tide feels particularly pained by these revelations and grim statistics of the prevalence rate and deaths attributable to both TB and HIV against the availability ratio and access to anti-TB vaccine and antiretroviral therapy. Even more troubling is the dwindling fund allocations, because what we see is obviously a nation at the verge of losing a mass of critical human capital required to drive its development process in all fields and sectors. This is why we insist that the time for swift stakeholders’ concerted action to address the fundamental challenges of resources allocation by significantly increasing funding to solve the most critical health problems of our time, is now.

It’s sad that at a time when most preventable diseases have been eliminated in developed countries, Nigeria is still topping the list of nations with the highest number of infections and deaths arising therefrom. Government must invest adequately in research and production of anti-TB vaccines while increasing availability of microscope, culture, drug susceptibility centres and reference liboratories across the country. TB and leprosy control centres must also be opened in all the states and local governments for effective coverage of infected persons and pursue of programmes aimed at reducing the spread of the epidemics.

Also, there is all urgent need for National Orientation Agency (NOA), the state and federal ministries of information and of health to embark on sustained enlightenment and re-orientation campaigns targeted at the most vulnerable of societal chain to ensure that the prevalence rate of these diseases are reduced to the barest minimum, if not completely eliminated from the list of our public health problems.

Improving investments and allocations in human capital development and economic empowerment initiatives may play a serious role in reversing this ugly trend. We, thus, appeal to governments at all levels and other stakeholders to continue to increase their commitments to programmes aimed at building the capacity of the people and ensure the creation of an economic foundation that would sustain rubost development and growth for posterity.

These steps would help save this generation of leaders the shame that the present TB, HIV and malaria prevalence rates have exposed us to as a people in such a resource-blessed nation.