All the stakeholders could do more to reduce the burden
In choosing 'Yes! We Can End TB: Commit, Invest, Deliver' as theme for the 2025 World TB Day being observed globally today, the idea is to amplify the urgency of ending what is generally regarded as the world's deadliest infectious disease. It is also a disease the World Health Organisation (WHO) has consistently ranked Nigeria among countries with one of the highest prevalence. Statistics from by the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme (NTBLCP) also indicate that Nigeria accounts for 23 per cent of TB deaths in Africa. To compound the challenge, undetected TB carriers in the country are capable of infecting between 12 per cent and 15 per cent of the population annually.
Nigeria has the second highest multi-drug resistance tuberculosis (MDR-TB) burden in Africa and the 13th highest in the world. "TB mostly affects our productive age group (25-44 years), driving many families into poverty with untoward consequences on our national economy," said Director of Public Health, Federal Ministry of Health, Dr Godwin Ntadom, who revealed that the 71,000 people who succumbed to the disease in 2023 represent about 18% of TB deaths recorded in the African continent. He added that Nigeria had its highest-ever TB notification of more than 400,000 cases identified in 2024 out of the estimated 506,000 infections. "The situation is further exacerbated by factors such as poverty, malnutrition, overcrowded living conditions, and limited access to quality healthcare services."
Globally, some 13 per cent of TB patients are also afflicted with HIV and said to be the leading cause of death among people living with HIV. But tuberculosis is a curable disease. That, of course, depends on early detection and correct diagnosis aided with proper treatment. The challenge in Nigeria is that patients afflicted with TB do not complete the therapy and even worse, many do not make themselves available for treatment. Indeed, failure to complete the treatment and the mismanagement of drugs account for the death of many patients and the increase in variants of the disease that are drug resistant in the country.
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The world health body is particularly worried because a substantial number of the people infected in Nigeria are unreported or undiagnosed. By WHO statistics, no fewer than 15 per cent of the three million people undiagnosed for TB around the world are in Nigeria, most of them women and children in slum neighbourhoods where poor ventilation and squalor abet the spread of the disease. To end the TB scourge, there is an urgent need for the federal government to support the local manufacturing of TB drugs and there must be enlightenment campaign on preventive measures. Health authorities must also work to halt the proliferation of fake and adulterated drugs that compound the problem of TB in the country.
Tuberculosis has been established as the leading cause of death from any single infectious agent. It is caused by a bacterium which most commonly affects the lungs and transmitted from person to person through air droplets. TB affects all species of vertebrates and though control measures had reportedly limited the spread through animals, they (particularly cattle) still constitute a significant source of risk in countries like Nigeria where meat and milk inspection by health officials are often overlooked.
Every five minutes in Nigeria, according to the National Coordinator, Laraban Shehu, one person dies of TB while fatalities from the disease are far higher than the number of people who die from some other diseases. Meanwhile, this is a disease that is both preventable and curable. On a day such as this, we call on the government, at all levels, civil society organisations, and international partners to increase their support and to address these barriers and enhance TB control efforts in Nigeria.
