Posted on: Sat 25-03-2023

The Acting Director of the Africa Centre for Disease Control, Dr Ahmed Ouma, said 4,100 people die from tuberculosis worldwide every day.

Ouma also said over 25 per cent of the deaths occurred in Africa.

Ouma, who said this on the Twitter handle of the centre, @AfricaCDC, urged African Union member states and partners to invest in better diagnostics, shorter and better treatment regimens, and innovative methods to end TB.

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.

He said “Every day, more than 4,100 people die from TB, with over 25 per cent of these deaths occurring in Africa. And yet this is a preventable and curable disease. This is World TB Day; we call on all African Union Members States and Partners to invest in better diagnostics, shorter and better treatment regimens, and innovative methods to end TB.”

Meanwhile, no fewer than 2,000 residents of Nasarawa State have been infected with the deadly tuberculosis disease.

As at last year, 5,408 cases were detected across the 13 local government areas of the state, and 21 per cent of them were co-infected with HIV.

The state Commissioner for Health, Ahmed Baba-Yahaya, disclosed this in Lafia on Friday at a press conference to commemorate the 2023 World Tuberculosis Day.

He cautioned that if adequate measures were not taken, the disease would pose a serious threat to many residents of the state.

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