The Nasarawa state government has revealed that it recorded over 5000 people were affected by tuberculosis in Nasarawa state in 2022. The state commissioner for Health, Pharm. Ahmed Yahaya stated this while briefing journalists in Lafia the north-central Nasarawa capital in commemoration of World Tuberculosis Day themed , ‘Yes, we can end TB; get involved’.
He said that the state had detected 5,408 TB cases last year; 21% of whom are co-infected with HIV. According to Pharm. Yahaya, “Nasarawa State in the year 2022 had a prevalence rate of 33/100,000 population and more needs to be done to bring this down to a level that will no longer pose a serious threat to the public.
“TB is a disease of public health interest as it is infectious and transmitted through the air. It is commonly said ‘TB anywhere is TB everywhere”.
Despite the effort of the state government, the commissioner said, the treatment’s success rate was 89%, yet to meet the target of 95% stipulated by the national TB control Programe, hence much still needs to be done. He noted that though the treatment for TB through direct observation started in 2003 at the only center then, Evangelical Reformed Church of Christ (ERCC) Hospital, Alushi, there were 13 centers across the state at the moment handling TB cases.
The commissioner also said that based on the data available to the ministry, about 300 children of age group 0—14 years were detected with TB last year 2022 and this constitutes 5.5% of total TB cases detected. Yahaya said the age group that was most infected with TB was from 15-55 years which was the economically productive group in the country.
He urged the public to avail themselves for testing as the ‘gene Xpert machine’ that is capable of detecting TB within two hours was now being used to get rid of the disease in the state. He promised that the government would continue to ensure support toward curtailing TB as the state government will not relent in its efforts to provide good quality and affordable health services to its citizens, especially for TB. The commissioner, therefore, commended development partners who were committed to bettering the health condition of the people.
