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Nigeria: Health Department Cautions Against Tuberculosis
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Leadership (Abuja)
28 March 2008
Posted to the web 28 March 2008
Tongpan Nanman Idi
Abuja
Director, public health department of the FCT, Dr. (Mrs.) F. O. Momoh, has said that Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious public health problem and so should be everyone's concern.
Momoh said this during the 2008 world TB day press briefing, an annual event set aside by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
She said that with the increasing prevalence of HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis has been found to be on the increase as HIV is said to fuel the emergence of TB. She stated that other predisposing factors that have been linked with TB include poverty, overcrowding, cigarette smoking, malnutrition and other conditions that may suppress an individual's immunity.
Momoh said there was a need for wide-spread awareness creation about the disease, stressing that "TB is curable and treatment is free" .
The purpose of the day, according to her, "is to create awareness about Tuberculosis (TB) and issues surrounding it and such issues include, the causes, diagnosis, treatment, the impact of the disease, situation globally and the efforts put in place by various bodies to tackle the menace".
Momoh noted that the contribution of everyone in the society is needed in preventing Tuberculosis, as it concerns the issue of health. She added that this calls for action on the part of everybody as government alone cannot fight the war against TB effectively.
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She, therefore, called for concerted efforts of all individuals, TB patients, health workers, community members, including patients' families, the private sector, media, development partners and other NGOs to help stop TB. "We in the health sector will fight TB, because we believe that we should spread this message of hope that TB is curable and treatment is free", she added.
In a related development, programme director of the FCT Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control, Dr. Sadiq Abdulrahaman, said that everyone can do something to stop TB and every individual's action counts. He stated that this year's event celebrates the actions of people all over the world who have agreed to join forces to stop TB.
He expressed sadness that despite recent progress, TB remains a massive global public health problem with nearly a million new cases and more than a million and a half deaths each year.
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