Access to TB diagnostic services is a huge challenge. The current local government areas coverage of Gene Xpert, which is the first-line test for diagnosis of TB, is 41 per cent. Another worrisome trend is funding. The catastrophic cost survey conducted in 2017 showed that 71 per cent of TB patients and their households are affected negatively by the catastrophic cost due to TB
With fanfare, Aisha Buhari, wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, celebrated some eminent people and organisations that have joined hands with the government towards ending the tuberculosis scourge in the country.
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) bacteria. The disease affects the lungs, although it can also affect other parts of the body. While most of the MTB infections do not have symptoms in its latent state, the infection can present symptoms such as bad cough that lasts three weeks or longer, pain in the chest, coughing up blood or sputum (mucus from deep inside the lungs), drastic loss of weight, among many others.
Fighting to end tuberculosis is a huge task that cannot be left to the government alone, hence, individuals and private organisations have joined in the efforts to eradicate the deadly disease. So the presence of who is who at the gala night put together by the First Lady and Stop TB Partnership Nigeria to celebrate some TB champions and survivors organised was a welcome development. It also gave some survivors the opportunity to narrate their testimonies.
The event, which held at the Banquet Hall of the Aso Villa, showed Mrs. Buhari’s desire to end the scourge. It was also a night to honour eminent personalities who had contributed to the fight against TB, including the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. W. Stuart Symington; Nigeria’s Minister of Health Prof. Isaac Adewole; Chairman, Zankli Medical Centre and Board Chair, Stop TB Partnership Nigeria, Prof. Lovett Lawson; Programme Manager, Anambra State TB and Leprosy Control, Dr. Ifeanyi Okolie, and the Agbami parties, which comprises Star Deepwater Petroleum Limited (a Chevron company and operator of the Agbami unit), Famfa Oil Limited, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Equinor Nigeria Energy Company Limited, and Petroleo Brasileiro Nigeria Limited.
Mrs. Buhari said TB had become a major challenge globally and a killer disease, adding that it should be integrated in the fight against HIV/AIDS to reduce the deaths associated with the disease.
“In Nigeria, one of the major challenges of TB response is attributed to low cases of its discovery both in adult and children. This is attributed partly to poor knowledge about TB that influences the health seeking behavior of people and low treatment coverage,” she said.
Prof. Adewole expressed concerns over the rising cases of TB in Nigeria, saying the current proportion of health facilities in the country with TB services is barely 265. “Access to TB diagnostic services is a huge challenge. The current local government areas coverage of Gene Xpert, which is the first-line test for diagnosis of TB, is 41 per cent. Another worrisome trend is funding. The catastrophic cost survey conducted in 2017 showed that 71 per cent of TB patients and their households are affected negatively by the catastrophic cost due to TB,” Adewole said.
Also speaking, the Director of Star Deepwater Petroleum Limited, \ Kennedy, said it was time for active collaboration to end the scourge, keep the promise on taming it, especially finding TB and treating it. Kennedy, who was represented by the medical director of Chevron, Paul Arenyeka, said the company has built, equipped and donated 28 chest clinics to health institutions across the country. “Since 2008, N16.6 billion ($2.7million) has been spent building and donating equipped chest clinics in Nigeria. Between 2015 and 2017, over 48,000 presumptive TB cases were registered in the facilities, with over 11,000 cases detected. The chest clinics contributed to about 3 per cent of national presumptive TB cases registered and 3 per cent to national aggregate of TB cases,” he said.
Represented by Esimaje Brikinn, Chevron’s General Manager, Policy, Government and Public Affairs (Corporate Affairs), Kennedy stated that in the efforts to end TB in Nigeria, the Agbami parties have made appreciable investments in chest clinic infrastructure with modern facilities and state of the art equipment, and sponsored awareness and advocacy programmes in vulnerable communities; built the capacity of health workers as well as provided safeguards for protecting health workers. He added that the Agbami parties have built, equipped and donated 28 standard chest clinics with consulting rooms; fully equipped laboratories with mobile X-ray units and gene expert machines, in health institutions across the country to help facilitate the diagnosis of susceptible and resistant tuberculosis. The Agbami parties have also supported production of National TB Guidelines as safeguards for health workers that provide care for TB patients.
“Tuberculosis awareness campaigns have been carried out by the Agbami parties in 10 high burden states of Lagos, Kano, Kaduna and Rivers, Nassarawa, Akwa Ibom, Oyo, Benue, Delta and Sokoto States, reaching over 60,000 community beneficiaries,” he stated. He stated further that since 2008, the Agbami parties have spent about N16.6 billion ($2.7million) in building and equipping chest clinics in Nigeria.
A TB survivor, Oluwafunke Dosumu, while narrating her experience, said her initial thought was that she had “an ordinary minor cough” when the disease started and not until it persisted and was asked to run series of medical laboratory investigations, which dragged for a while. Speaking at the TB gala night, which was hosted by the First Lady, Dosumu said she felt the worst had come when the results were out and she was later told by doctors that she had TB.
“At first, I was scared and shocked that I had TB, but later I summoned the courage to go through every bit of the process, positive that I will definitely come out of it. I was placed on anti-TB drugs, which I had to take every day for six months. During the process, I lost so much weight due to loss of appetite; night sweats as well as fever and chest pain. I was also isolated from my immediate environment, family and children for some months to face my health squarely and prevent the disease from spreading,” Dosumu said, adding that her experience has turned her into a TB champion and advocate who works with communities to prevent stigmatisation of TB patients.