17 April 2009
A medical practitioner, Dr Wale Akeredolu, yesterday attributed the high incidence of tuberculosis in the coun try to poor awareness of the disease by Nigerians.
He told newsmen in Lagos that most Nigerians lacked adequate knowledge of the disease and how they could protect themselves against it. Akeredolu, who is the Lagos Island Local Government Medical Officer, added that this was further worsened by the reluctance of most victims of the disease to seek prompt medical attention.
He urged the government and other stakeholders in the control and prevention of tuberculosis to create more awareness on the prevention and treatment of the life-threatening disease.
Akeredolu also said government should make the treatment of the disease more accessible to the people through the creation of more treatment centres.
"The government should make affordable TB treatment accessible to the people through the establishment of treatment centres in all the nooks and cranny of the country" he advised.
The medical officer further said that tuberculosis was treatable and urged people suffering from it to seek urgent medical attention. "TB is treatable; people suffering from it should go to the hospital for prompt medical attention. The disease can be better treated, if reported early," he said.
The Minister of Health, Prof. Babatunde Osotimehin, recently raised an alarm over rising cases of TB in the country. According to the minister, the nation now ranks fifth among the 22 TB-ravaged countries.
He said the 22 countries collectively accounted for 80 per cent of the global TB burden. Tuberculosis cases in the country have increased from 31,264 in 2004 to 90,307.
(NAN)
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