A Senior Director at Johnson and Johnson Pharmaceuticals, Ms Abeda Williams, has called for collaborative efforts in the fight against Tuberculosis.

 

Williams made the call during an advanced training on clinical and pragmatic management of drug-resistance in tuberculosis recently held in Lagos.

 

“The Federal Government has made a commitment towards addressing the problem of tuberculosis in the country by signing a $71m agreement with international partners. But it is going to take the government and the states, the private sector, patients and communities to address it. We all have a role to play in that effort,” Williams said.

 

She said her organisation would partner the Federal Government to train health workers and support the system to improve on patient care.

 

A Senior Medical Officer with the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme, Dr Victor Babawale, said the fund, which was recently signed by the Federal Government and the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, would go a long way in fighting tuberculosis in the country.

 

 “The burden of tuberculosis in Nigeria, according to the World Health Organisation TB report, shows that Nigeria has about 219 cases per 100,000 people. That is equal to about 407,000 TB cases in the country.

 

 “We have been able to detect, as at the end of 2017, only about 105,000, which is 25 per cent case detection. Out of every five cases of TB that we have in this country, we are only detecting one. So, the global fund grant will help us to detect the remaining three cases, if possible.

 

 “With this grant, we should be able to detect about 400,000 cases in 2019 and 2020 combined. This means that we will double our case findings,” Babawale said.