By Iyemah David
The Deputy Executive Director of Stop TB Partnership, Dr Suvanand Sahu has said that Nigeria is not on track with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in ending Tuberculosis by 2030 in the country.
Sahu disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja, at a Media Roundtable, a strategic initiative of Stop TB Partnership Nigeria to provide the media with an opportunity to discuss TB issues and ensure TB awareness in the country.
The Stop TB Partnership unveiled a costed plan for the world to end TB 2023- 2030, the second leading infectious disease killer in the world, after COVID-19.
The Global Plan outlines the priority actions and estimated financial resources needed to end TB as a global health threat by 2030.
The Deputy Executive Director said that it was still possible for Nigeria to also end TB in 2030 if the country would align with the global plan.
He said that the Global Plan lay out how, from now up to 2030, a global investment of US$250 billion could save millions of lives through early diagnosis and treatment of 50 million people with TB across the world.
Sahu said that the development, approval and distribution of a new TB vaccine; and the redoubling of efforts so that emerging crises like the COVID-19 pandemic or conflicts, like the ongoing war in Ukraine, do not derail the programmes.
The National Tuberculosis, Buruli Ulcer, and Leprosy Control Program (NTBLCP), National Coordinator, NTBLCP, Dr Chukwuma Anyaike said that under the watch Nigeria has the first compendium on best practices in the country.
He said that partnership coordination and multisectoral engagement, ensured intervention distribution mapping to avoid double funding.
Anyaike said that challenges that may hinder the achievement is that the country was yet to Implement the mandatory TB notification by private facilities as agreed by the National Council of Health.
He said that the country’s engagement with all private for-profit facilities is still lower than 10 per cent.
Anyaike said that the diagnostic in country’s coverage with World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended Molecular test is skewed distribution leading to access challenges, sub-optimal domestic resources and child TB cases notification were still low in the country.
Dr Amos Omoniyi, WHO NPO TB/HIV, Nigeria Country Office, said that Nigeria may not achieve the 2035 target to end TB.
“We need to implement data-driven, evidence-based technology to enhance interventions as contained in the National Strategic Plans (NSP) lessons learnt,” he explained.
Omoniyi disclosed that 70 per cent of the TB budget in 2021 was unfunded in the country.
Mrs Tope Adams, Founder, of TB People Nigeria, and Survivor said that the Federal Government should declare a state of emergency on all forms of TB in the country.
Mrs Adams said that TB is better imagined than to be experienced while stressing that nutrition is the major problem in recovery from the disease, which she alleged has always been downplayed in the country.
She however called on the Media to increase awareness on TB reporting in the country, because some Nigerians were not aware of the killer disease.
She added that TB survivors need psychosocial and financial support in other to be fully reintegrated back into the society.
Meanwhile, Mr Mayowa Joel, Executive Secretary Stop TB Partnership Nigeria, said there was still a need for the media to intensify awareness of TB and to walk hand in hand with all relevant stakeholders.
The Global Plan to End TB, 2023-2030 provides a blueprint of priority actions required and a detailed estimate of financial resources needed to end TB.
This Global Plan builds on the previous edition, which laid out priority actions for 2018-2022, informed by global commitments member states endorsed at the 2018 United Nations High-Level Meeting (UNHLM) on TB.
The resource needs estimates from this Global Plan to include resources needed for implementing TB care and prevention and Research and Development into new tools.
This Global Plan has already informed the Global Fund Investment Case and the 2022 G20 deliberations on TB.
It will serve as a key document for inspiring and aligning global advocacy efforts, such as for the upcoming UNHLM on TB in 2023.
