By Bashir Bello
No fewer than 20,522 Tuberculosis patients were missing in Kano State, Commissioner of Health, Dr. Aminu Tsanyawa has said.
Dr. Tsanyawa stated this while flagging off an outreach on Tuberculosis disease to commemorate World Tuberculosis day in the state.
The Commissioner said the state as at 2019 has a TB burden of 32,376 out which 11,854 were detected and notified while 20,522 were missing.
According to him, “Kano State being the most populous state in Nigeria and one of the fifth (5th) highest TB burden states is estimated to have TB burden of 32,376 in year 2019.
“The State detected and notified a total of 11,854 (37%) TB patients. However, there were 20,522 “missing” TB patients, there is need to continue the awareness creation among other things to end TB in Kano, Nigeria and the world at large,” Dr. Tsanyawa stated.
Similarly, Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje kicked against use of traditional medicine and concoctions for the treatment of tuberculosis.
Ganduje said the government has concluded plans to operate free screening, test and treatment of TB in the state while calling on the persons to always go to the hospital and avail themselves for the treatment.
The Governor said a wellness on wheels “Wow Truck” has been provided to conduct Tuberculosis screening, test and administration of drugs free of charge in the state.
Earlier, the executive Director of KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation, Dr. Odume Bethrand said they were keen on finding the missing TB cases in both the public and private facilities as well as the informal health sector (PMVs) and hard to reach communities.
Dr. Bethrand said, “Currently, Nigeria is one of the countries with the highest burden of TB, ranking first in Africa and sixth globally. Kano State also ranks among the highest TB burden states in Nigeria. It is estimated that about 18 Nigerians die of TB everyday and Kano State with over 20 million population and high burden of TB comes high in priority for TB control.
“The KNCV Nigeria is a leading partner working with the Kano State TB program and currently implementing the USAID funded TB LON project; a 5-year project supporting comprehensive TB treatment and care in 14 states in Nigeria.
“In the TB LON project we work to support the state in ensuring that long neglected segments of the population (so called underserved) get access to TB services. We are also keen on finding the missing TB cases in both the public and private facilities as well as the informal health sector (PMVs) and hard to reach communities.
“We pioneered the TB surge intervention in Kano with great success and presently under our current TB LON project have expanded this to 134 facilities across 39 LGAs offering routine screening for TB including diagnosis and treatment,” Dr. Bethrand however stated.
Meanwhile, Tuberculosis an airborne disease, the most infectious disease killer, though preventable and curable, has remained a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Nigeria.
