The Federal Government has reassured on free treatment of tuberculosis, otherwise known as TB in the country. Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole, gave the assurance in his address to commemorate the 2016 World TB Day in Abuja recently.
He said TB is curable while diagnosis and TB drugs are available free in all treatment centres for the disease in the country. He also stressed that persistent cough for two or more weeks could be TB and urged anyone having persistent cough to contact a health facility promptly.
The Minister said government’s determination to ensure functional primary health centre per each ward across the country would help in tackling the disease and guarantee functional service delivery at affordable cost for people in the country. Adewole noted that the management and control of tuberculosis had been included in the services to be delivered in the revitalized primary health centres. “Government will continue to provide drugs for the management of drugs resistant TB. The Federal Ministry of Health will also continue to build the capacity for management of drugresistant TB at all levels…”while this is ongoing, we shall aggressively pursue the expansion of services for all forms of tuberculosis. He disclosed that “the Ministry of Health has responded to the call made at the 62 World Health Assembly in May 2009 for member states to show commitment towards achieving universal access to diagnosis and treatment of drug resistant TB (DR-TB) by 2015.
” According to him, such call had spurred the establishment of eight reference laboratories among the six geopolitical zones in that nation. Adewole lauded President Muhammadu Buhari for including health as one of the key components of the ‘Change’ agenda of his government, even as he thanked the wife of the President for accepting to be National TB champion, through which she would promote fight against the disease.
Adewole noted that government had scaled up the number of sites with GeneXpert technology from 96 in 2014 to 198 in 2015 “to enhance diagnosis of drug susceptible and drug resistant TB.” Speaking at the event, wife of the President, Hajiya Aisha Buhari who was represented by wife of Governor of Cross Rivers State, Dr. Linda Ayade, lauded the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Health for its efforts toward elimination of TB in Nigeria. Mrs Buhari called for greater partnership among stakeholders working on the TB elimination as a way of taming the disease in the country.
By: Marcus Fatunmole
National Mirror News
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