Nigeria’s TB Case Finding Rises By 50%, Says WHO

Nigeria’s TB case finding rises by 50%, says WHO.

The World Health Organisation said Nigeria had significantly increased its national Tuberculosis case finding by 50 per cent in 2021 using innovative approaches.

The WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, made this known in her message in commemoration of World TB Day.

World TB Day is marked yearly on March 24 to raise public awareness about the devastating health, social and economic consequences of this preventable disease and call for accelerated action to end it.

This year’s theme, ‘Yes, we can end TB’, highlights the need to ensure equitable access to prevention and care, in line with the drive towards Universal Health Coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Dr Moeti said it was important to find and diagnose cases of TB so that the patients can be treated, and their contacts offered preventive medication.

“Nigeria is an example of a country that managed to significantly increase national TB case finding by 50 per cent in 2021 using innovative approaches such as the expansion of the daily observed treatment protocols, use of digital technologies, Community Active Case Finding, and enlisting Public Private Mix initiatives.

“TB requires concerted action by all sectors: from communities and businesses to governments, civil society and others,” she said in a press statement.

She said the African Region was on the threshold of reaching a 35 per cent TB death reduction as there had been a 26 per cent reduction in TB deaths between 2015 and 2021.

“Seven countries — Eswatini, Kenya, Mozambique, South Soudan, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia—have reached a 35 per cent reduction in deaths since 2015,” she noted.

She, however, decried the challenges in TB prevention and control.

“First, the delayed diagnosis and testing. There is still a notable gap between the estimated number of new infections and case notifications of TB: 40 per cent of people living with TB did not know of their diagnosis or it was not reported in 2021. One million people are living with TB in the region and have not been detected.

“Second, the link between TB and HIV. Approximately 20 per cent of people newly diagnosed with TB are also living with HIV infection.

“Third, the multi-drug resistant TB. In the African region, only 26 per cent of all people living with multi-drug resistance are receiving the appropriate treatment.”

Meanwhile, she hailed the member states for the increasing uptake of new tools and guidance recommended by WHO, resulting in early access to TB prevention and care, and better outcomes.