For Nigeria to eradicate Tuberculosis (TB) and achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by 2030, a state of emergency must be declared for all TB cases in the country.
This was the consensus on Friday when some health experts met with the media at a round table to discuss Nigeria’s effort to end tuberculosis.
Speaking at the event, TB People Nigeria National Coordinator Tope Adams said the disease has claimed many lives, necessitating the declaration of a state of emergency.
Ms. Adams said that if a state of emergency is declared over the disease, it will get more attention from the general public.
She said this move will also push the necessary people to do more and invest in TB prevention through various available measures, including the use of vaccines and preventive TB therapy (TBT).
He said this will further ensure that the country achieves its goal of eradicating tuberculosis by 2030.
killer disease
TB, a disease caused by bacteria, often affects the lungs and is identified as the number one deadly infectious disease in the world and also among the top 10 causes of death worldwide.
It is spread from person to person through the air. When people with TB cough, sneeze, or spit, they put TB germs into the air. A person needs to inhale only some of these germs to become infected.
Despite being a vaccine-preventable disease, a quarter of the world’s population, approximately 1.9 billion people, is infected with TB.
Statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO) also show that every year, about 245,000 Nigerians die from the disease and about 590,000 new cases occur.
Off the track?
Stop TB Partnership Deputy Executive Director Suvanand Sahu said Nigeria is not on track with the SDGs, which aim to end TB and other diseases by 2030.
Sahu said the country can still achieve the goal if it immediately aligns with the global plan to end the disease.
He said the Stop TB Partnership has put forward a cost plan that will guide the world in its effort to end TB.
He said the global plan outlines the priority actions and estimated financial resources needed to end the disease as a global health threat by 2030.
He said a $250 billion global investment could save millions of lives through early diagnosis and treatment of 50 million people with TB worldwide.
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Speaking at the event, WHO Nigeria Professional TB Officer Amos Omoniyi said data-driven implementation and evidence-based technology are needed to improve interventions contained in National Strategic Plans (NSPs).
Mr. Omoniyi said that it is also important to mobilize adequate domestic resources to combat the deadly disease. He said TB-related programs in Nigeria are underfunded and about 70 percent of the 2021 TB budget was unfunded.
“The number of people who become ill with TB incidence in 2020 is 452,000, that is, one person every minute. The 2020 TB incidence rate is 219 per 100,000 population. The tuberculosis death rate in 2020 is 75 per 100,000 population,” he said.
He noted that the number of TB deaths in 2020 is 156,000, which means that one person dies every three minutes due to TB.
Poor financing
Mr. Sahu explained that efforts to tackle TB have suffered setbacks due to lack of funding.
He said the amount needed to support the Global Plan’s ambitions is the equivalent of each person in the world donating US$4 per year for the next eight years.
“The economic return on this investment would amount to US$40 for every US$1 invested and up to US$59 for every US$1 invested in low- and middle-income countries. If, instead, the status quo is maintained.”
He also pointed out that mRNA vaccines like those used against COVID-19 can be repurposed through technology to serve in the prevention of TB.
“We hope that they will make rapid progress with that in terms of reduced prices and make it more accessible to countries in Africa.”