Moses Emorinken, Abuja

The fight against deadly tuberculosis (TB) disease is about to get a major boost, as the Global Fund on Thursday announced a three-year grant of $143m to Nigeria starting from next year.

The grant will enable the procurement of drugs, empowerment of health workers at the community level to actively search for missing TB cases, and increase access to testing across the country.

The Global Fund further explained that Nigeria will be receiving the largest support from it to tackle tuberculosis, including two other diseases – malaria and HIV.

President Muhammadu Buhari in his address at the high-level roundtable meeting of Africa Ministers of Health during the 33rd virtual Board Meeting of the Stop TB partnership, while lamenting the needless loss of lives from TB which is treatable, said his administration is committed to closing the gaps in TB case detection, and improving the health indices in the country.

He said, “Nigeria ranks among those countries bearing the brunt of the increasing burden of TB, with a growing number of missing TB cases.

“The reversal of Nigeria’s difficult health indices remains a top priority of this administration, including the gap in TB case detection, fueled partly by the dearth of acceptable, accessible, affordable, and patient-centered basic health facilities.

“If we fail in the fight to reverse the current trend in TB prevalence, TB will continue to fight us and lead to avoidable loss of lives, especially among the economically productive age group and amongst our most vulnerable groups especially women.

“It is imperative that we not only commit to ending the TB epidemic as one of the milestones enshrined in the SDGs, but also to institute an accountability element to ensure that our commitment translates to the achievement of desired results.”

Announcing the grant, the Senior Disease Coordinator at the Global Fund, Dr. Eliud Wanerdwalo, who noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has jeopardised global efforts to save millions of lives and provide access to essential TB care and prevention, said: “Globally, these disruptions could result in an additional 6.3 million people developing tuberculosis and 1.4 million additional deaths resulting from TB between 2020 and 2025.

“In the next three years, we will be investing about $12.7 billion around the world, in low and middle-income countries to support countries, with HIV, Tuberculosis, and Malaria in the 11 countries. We leverage countries which we had presented today, and Nigeria will receive $143m for Tuberculosis for the next 3 years.

“This is to scale up their TB programs, and also the commitment to continue to support the programs, even in this challenging period of COVID- 19. More importantly, we are willing to continue with a commitment to fund the response in Africa.

“Nigeria is one of the countries where we have one of the biggest funding in the next funding cycle. Starting from next year, it will be the number of countries where we invest most money from the Global Fund.

“We are going to invest almost N900m in Nigeria in the next three years for the three diseases and over $100m for tuberculosis specifically. It is a huge investment and it is critical for the Global Fund.”

The Global Fund disclosed that it will invest about $500m over the next three years to fight Tuberculosis (TB) in Nigeria and 10 other African countries, which are classified under high burden TB countries in Africa.

The eleven African (11) countries that will benefit from the grant are – Nigeria, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.

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Also speaking, Deputy Executive Director, Stop TB Partnership Secretariat Geneva, Suvanand Sahu, noted that a number of countries were not on track to meet the United Nations High-Level Meeting, UNHLM- the target of 2018 and 2022.

“Two important things – the political commitment, governments and presidents need to lead the TB responses in their countries. It is very important to make funding available for the TB responses in countries through domestic budgets and also from other sources because it is about people’s life. We must commit more funding for TB,” he said.

The Senior Programme Officer, Africa Union Commission, Dr. Sheila Shawa, explained that about 11 African countries have poor national funding to support their TB programmes, stressing the need to provide such countries with funding partners, in order not to be left behind in the fight to end TB in Africa.

The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, in his opening remarks, said that Nigeria has the highest TB burden in the African region. He further stated that it was unfortunate that a significant number of TB cases in Nigeria are still not detected and placed on treatment.

“We have two years more in attaining the UNHLM target set by all of us in 2018. However, a lot still needs to be done to change the present narrative for the continent to achieve the set target by 2022.

“We need to find all the missing TB cases and provide high-quality patient-centered care and treatment for all TB patients including children and other key populations. We need to urgently scale up access to TB preventive therapy (TPT) and support innovations and researches for ending the TB epidemic in our respective countries,” Ehanire said.

By Charles Okonji

The United Way Greater Nigeria (UWGN) in collaboration with 3M has concluded an arrangement to distribute 3000 bags of COVID-19 food palliatives to the vulnerable and rural communities in Rivers, Abuja and Abia.

UWGN, with help from its unstinting donor – 3M, partnered with Sustainable Centre for Rural Development and Regeneration (SDC) in Rivers, Auxano Foundation for Empowerment and Development in Abuja, and the Institute for Humanitarian Studies and Social Development (IHSD) in Abia.

The collaboration with these respective NGOs is to ensure that the most vulnerable communities are identified at the various locations, as these NGOs are experienced in developing purposeful community initiatives to support the people in these regions.

Addressing newsmen, the Program Manager of UWGN, Kathryn Ani-Otoibhi, said that 1000 packages are to be distributed in Rivers, Abia and Abuja respectively, pointing out that the packages consist of cooking oil, tomato paste, essential staples like rice, garri and noodles.

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She stated, “The selection of the food items is to ensure that each pack contains basic nutrients, and beneficiaries are properly nourished, to cushion the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic as food insecurity has grown in recent months. The distribution is slated for the 23rd – 28th of November, 2020. UWGN along with its esteemed NGO partners and volunteers will be going to the communities to distribute the palliatives, thereby bringing much-needed relief to Nigerians.”

By Omolara Akintoye

For many people, the new normal occasioned by the pandemic has been very challenging impacting negatively on mental health. In the midst of it, many are heartbroken and depressed while very few have refused to give up.

There is a need for people to develop new approaches to staying healthy, safe, and productive and maintain mental resilience during the pandemic and beyond.

These, among others, were issues discussed at the 141st reunion 2020 of Methodist Girls’ High School, Yaba, Old Girls’ Association (MGHSOGA) virtual meeting tagged “A time like this” and had over 230 women in attendance globally.

The guest speaker, Professor Andrew Zamani, a clinical psychologist and immediate past president of, Nigerian Psychological Association, pointed out many people are vulnerable to mental breakdowns in the new normal.

The lecturer at Nasarawa State University lamented most families have lost their social control powers to the internet over immorality with most graduates unemployable.

“The meeting provides an opportunity to reflect on values that is best. As torchbearers, I urge you to raise your candlesticks high, to deliver hope for the hopeless and continue to render selfless service to the deprived. As parents, we also need to re-examine our child-rearing and management practices,” Zamani said.

President MGHSOGA Major General Tilewa Amusu (Rtd.) pointed out the topics were carefully chosen given the experience people have gone through in the past seven months with the pandemic, #ENDSARS protest and the aftermaths.

“We are still committed to continuing with our school building project; supporting the school to continue its mandate of raising women to contribute positively to the society as well as fostering an inclusive sisterhood among old girls,” she said.

Amusu reiterated the association’s commitment towards the wholesome development of students and teachers, thereby adding value to their lives.

Principal Partner African Capital Alliance, Mrs. Kikelome Longe, who spoke on “financial strategies for times like this,” identified key things people must do to survive financially.

She mentioned taking responsibility, avoiding the blame game, cutting down on expenses, maintaining self-control, developing basic financial literacy skills, and considering multiple streams of income as necessary for financial survival.

Creative Director and founder, Courage Event Enterprise, Mrs. Adeola Falomo, who spoke on ‘entrepreneurship’ said despite the challenges which came with the pandemic, opportunities also abound disguised as challenges.

According to her: “Know that everything you need to move forward is within your reach, now is the time to start, age is no barrier. Build a vision, develop your brand, let excellence and integrity be your watchword, and be innovative.”

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Mental health, according to Executive Director, The Nous (Mind) Organisation, Lade Olugbemi, is key because there is no physical health without mental health.

Speaking on “A time like this: Looking after you,” Olugbemi charged participants to think about their mental health at this time and maintain a healthy work-life balance. She also mentioned holding on to one’s values, staying connected with positive people, and being positive as necessary to survive the times.

Coping with a time like this from the spiritual angle, is necessary, according to Bamidele Kuku. She enjoined all to speak up when the need arises and be quiet when necessary. “Let God be your anchor so that you can be able to impact moral values”, she said.

Former chairperson Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) Lagos Chapter and Executive Director, Head High International, Pastor (Mrs.) Tinu Odugbemi, challenged participants to make the best of the challenging times.

“Reality wears a new face, social relations has a new meaning, the pandemic which was last experienced 100 years ago has brought with it an economic squeeze and political consequences, no aspect of life is spared, but there are also certain gains made with the pandemic,” she stated.