According to the Global Fund, an international NGO, as a result of the intensified screening efforts nationally, no fewer than 50,000 Nigerians have tested positive for tuberculosis.
But according to the Fund, a large number of afflicted individuals had not yet started treatment, which raised questions about the nation’s capacity to control the illness and stop its spread.
This was revealed in Abuja on Monday by Mr. Ibrahim Tajudeen, Executive Secretary of the Global Fund Country Coordination Mechanism (CCM) in Nigeria.
He gave a speech at the Ministerial Oversight Committee for the Basic Health Care Provision Fund’s eleventh quarterly meeting.
According to Tajudeen, the screening was done as part of the government’s and donor partners’ ongoing TB case-finding initiatives.
But he claimed that a significant financing shortfall currently threatened to undo the gains.
“We are unable to start treatment for many because of limited resources, but we have successfully screened over 50,000 people who are TB-positive,” he stated.
According to him, the backlog is a result of constraints in the current funding cycle, which has seen reprioritisation of activities under the new Global Fund grant.
“The Country Coordinating Mechanism CCM is expected to confirm its alignment with the revised funding allocation by July 14, a deadline that may determine whether those affected could access life-saving treatment in time,” he said.
Tajudeen said that TB, a preventable and curable disease, remained one of Nigeria’s leading infectious disease threats.
In addition to the TB crisis, he highlighted several ongoing health interventions.
With the use of contemporary diagnostic tools, more than 25.5 million TB tests have been performed.
Some of the 370 digital X-ray machines that have been purchased have already been delivered to different states.
“Six regional reference laboratories are presently being upgraded,” he stated. He added that 16.6 million insecticide-treated nets had been dispersed throughout the nation to aid in the fight against malaria.
He revealed that donors have committed 95.5 million dollars to the government’s ongoing efforts.
However, the secretary stated that a number of planned initiatives, such as capital investments, training, and drug procurement, had been shelved due to the budget deficit from previous predictions.
In order to stop the issue from getting worse, he urged the MOC and his colleagues to act immediately.
Tajudeen stated that without treatment, “screening alone is not enough; we risk fueling the very epidemic we seek to control.”
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, despite calls for increased cooperation and consistent financing to bridge the care gap, Nigeria continues to have one of the highest rates of tuberculosis worldwide.
Additionally, experts caution that failing to treat those who have been diagnosed raises the danger of transmission and jeopardizes public health objectives.
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