By Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The House of Representatives has promised to take legislative actions, including approving more funds, to boost the fight against tuberculosis (TB) in the country.
The chairman of the House Committee on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Leprosy, and Malaria Control, Amobi Ogah, made the pledge while speaking at the re-launch of the Nigeria Parliamentary TB Caucus on Wednesday.
Ogah said it is imperative for the country to step up efforts to mobilise resources locally, so as to ensure that funding gaps do not cripple the fight against TB.
According to himಸAccording to him, “Our role in providing legislative interventions and support to the response against TB in Nigeria is critical and cannot be overemphasised. We must take advantage of our position and the population under our control to fight the scourge of TB.”
The lawmaker explained that “tuberculosis is an airborne infectious disease that is caused by a bacterial infection (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) that most often affects the lungs. TB remains one of the leading causes of death in the world; on a daily basis TB claims approximately 4,100 lives and close to 27,000 people fall ill with this preventable and curable disease.”
“Despite the fact that TB is curable and preventable, it kills more people than HIV and malaria combined globally and is the leading cause of death in Nigeria because an infected person can infect a hall of 1,000 people.”
“It is associated with HIV/AIDS, undernutrition, non-communicable diseases as well as stigma, discrimination, and other human rights abuses. Nigeria currently ranks first in Africa and sixth in the world, accounting for about 4.6% of global TB burdens. So far, global efforts to end TB have saved 79 million lives since 2000, resulting in the reduction of deaths by 38%, showing significant progress in the global fight against TB.”