Nigeria And Tuberculosis Burden

The recent disclosure that the Africa region has achieved a 26 percent reduction in Tuberculosis mortality rate in six years is cheery.
With this development, the  region is on the verge of reaching a 35 percent Tuberculosis death reduction rate.
However, despite this landmark achievement, one million people are still living with tuberculosis in the region and have not been detected.
According to the Regional Director of World Health Organisation in Africa, Matshdiso Moeti, because of delay in diagnosis and testing there is a notable gap between the estimated number of new infections and case notifications.
40 percent of people living with TB did not know their diagnosis or not reported in 2021.
Another challenge is that TB has a link with HIV, as approximately 20 percent of people newly diagnosed with HIV are also living with TB. In Africa only 26 percent of all people living with multi-drug resistance are receiving appropriate treatment.
Nigeria however, managed to significantly increase national TB case funding by 50 percent in 2021 using innovative approaches such as the expansion of the daily observed transparent protocols, use of digital technologies, Community Active Case, Finding and Enlisting Public Private Mix Initiatives.
But it is disheartening that Nigeria does not make the list of countries with reduced death rate caused by preventable and curable disease.While South Africa and East African countries like Eswatini, Kenya Mozambique, South Sudan, Toga, Uganda and Zambia have pooled resources to free their countries from stranglehold of TB.
Tuberculosis is fast becoming one of the leading causes of death in the sub-Sahara Africa, including Nigeria. Tuberculosis is airborne disease and is transmittable through ways that are air-related. The disease which was superstitiously associated with evil spirits was viewed as a bad omen by traditionalists and some locales. But modern science has revealed that it is preventable, treatable and curable when patients follow the prescribed drug administration or usage directions.
In recent times, the rate of Tuberculosis inflections and related deaths pose great concern to many people. This is despite  the advancement in medical research that has led to the manufacturing of drugs for the treatment of the disease.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recently reeled out estimates and statistics on tuberculosis infection rate in Nigeria and Africa. According to the statistics volunteered to Journalists, tuberculosis claimed 156,000 lives in Nigeria and afflicted about 452,000 in 2020. The  World Health Organisation further said the global target of ending the disease by 2030 is being hampered by inadequate funding and investment in the control of tuberculosis which is an airborne disease.
Executive Director of Stop TB Partnership, Dr. Lucica Ditiu posited that more than 450,000 people in Nigeria are infected with TB yearly. According to him, the number of people developing the disease increase every year. Besides, 28,000 of the tuberculosis fatalities are people living with Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV). The Africa region is home to 17 of the 30 high burden Tuberculosis countries in the world. The estimated 2.5 million cases in Africa in 2020 accounted for a quarter of the global burden with more than half a million African lives lost to the curable and preventable disease. These, no doubt, are terrifying, startling and spine-chilling revelations.
To say the least, the disclosure is a dangerous phenomenon and a threat to public health, taking into cognisance the fact that tuberculosis is not just transmittable but can be contracted by air. Airborne diseases are potentially dangerous because air is free, always in public domain, thus is available to every body within an environment. So it is easy for an infected person to transmit the disease to others. It is a belief of most people that when air is infested a greater number of people are  affected than when water is polluted.
This is why the Federal Government must brace up to address this grave challenge at a time when Nigerians are going through the excruciating pains of unpopular economic policies of All Progressives Congress- led Federal Government.
The colossal amount of 1.3 billion dollars required to effectively detect and control the disease, according to WHO African Regional Director, further heightens the fear of Nigerians on an avoidable spread. Though Tuberculosis is preventable and treatable its prevention and treatability depend largely on the availability of funds.
Remove funding, all effort to curb spread and end the disease will, no doubt, translate to exercise in futility.
I am tempted to believe that the Federal Government is not being proactive enough in curbing the spread of the disease because of a funding that is disproportionate to the burden of the disease in Nigeria.
When will Nigeria, the Giant of Africa in population rank high in what is good even amid her abundant human and financial resources.
The Transparency International Corruption index on Countries in the world, ranked Nigeria 150 out of 180 countries on the 2022 Corruption Perception index.
The Corruption Perception Index I learnt is the Transparency International’s tool for measuring the level of corruption in the System of the 180 countries of the world based on prevalent indices.
In 2021 Nigeria, obtained 154th position with a growing population of about 200 million people, Nigeria is one of  the  countries in the world where its citizens live below one dollar per day.
It is one nation that is yet to break the jinx of failed electoral systems since independence, despite a whopping amount of taxpayers’ money injected into the processes.
Power supply is near-zero. From the Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration who promised to end the problem in one year, to the present administration of General Muhammed Buhari, power supply is epileptic.
For any Government that has the welfare of the people at heart, making her counterpart contributions to meet the World Health Organisation 2030 target of ending the Tuberculosis scourge is not too difficult a commitment to make.
Every project on human health and welfare is a priority. No amount of money is worth the value of human soul. In fact if roads, schools, are built for humans, then the people should be helped to remain healthy to enjoy those infrastructure and facilities.
Russian philosopher and educationist, Lao Russell once wrote, “In vain you build the city if you don’t first built the man”.
Every project should have the face of human because the ultimate beneficiary of any project are (or ought to be) the people. If human welfare is not factored into the policy and programme of Government, then it is  anti-people. Government derives its legitimacy from the people. And those in government are stewards who by reason of the people’s mandate, should hold the resources of the people in trust.
The Federal Government and State Governments across the country should rise to the brazen challenge of the tuberculosis burden on Nigerians before we experience another wave of avoidable epidemic.
Already, the country and other African countries are not free from greater infection if there is no sustainable plans.
According to Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, World Health Organisation’s Regional Director for Africa, South Africa,  has steadily increased her domestic funding to fight the disease by allocating 81 per cent of her financial resources while Zambia has increased her funding seven-fold since 2015.
However, the commitment of South Africa and less economic viable Zambia country to end the threat of the disease gives a flicker of hope that the problem is surmountable if other African countries, including Nigeria  will borrow a leaf from South Africa and Zambia.

By: Igbiki Benibo