TB KILLS 18 PERSONS HOURLY IN NIGERIA — DR OKAFOR
Reporter : CHIKA EWURUM
Media practitioners have been encouraged to sensitise Nigerians to the dangers of Tuberculosis, otherwise known as TB.
A Non Governmental Organization, Breakthrough Action Nigeria, in collaboration with Federal and State Ministries of Health, made the appeal in a virtual workshop for journalists.
The workshop, which involved six states, including Imo State, was aimed at empowering participants to report cases of tuberculosis accurately in order to reduce the spread.
Speaking during the workshop, the Programme Director, Federal Ministry of Health, Mrs. Tohowo Uko, said recent survey revealed that Nigeria ranked 6th among countries that had the highest burden of TB globally.
She further explained that Nigeria was the first in Africa while Imo State ranked 8th amongst states in the country.
Mrs. Uko, who said that the training would help journalists in sustaining the progress made during the International Day for Tuberculosis, encouraged people to go for test if they coughed for more than two weeks.
The Program Director frowned that some Nigerians were yet to come to terms that the disease is curable and not caused by witchcraft.
Mrs. Uko maintained that the decision to change the narrative and increase the awareness on the dangers of tuberculosis was what informed their decision to partner the media.
She expressed regret that the fear of COVID-19 and stigmatisation had also discouraged people from getting tested for Tuberculosis.
Contributing, the Programme Manager for Tuberculosis Control, Buruli Ulcer and Leprosy IMO State, Dr. Charles Okafor, said that tubersulosis is more lethal than COVID-19 and the need to increase the tempo on sensitization, especially in rural communities.
He emphasized that the disease was not meant to kill if proper medication was given at the appropriate time.
Dr. Okafor appealed that people should desist from stigmatising those infected with TB as it would drive it underground and they would no longer avail themselves for test.
He stated that record showed that 18 persons died of TB in Nigeria hourly, seven of them children whose parents or caregiver might not know to how to manage it.
The Program Manager maintained that TB is a disease that should concern everybody as one person could infect more than 15 persons in a year. He added that TB drugs and test remained free.