Health experts have called for urgent, coordinated action to end tuberculosis stigma and expand funding interventions, stressing that Nigeria’s rising TB burden threatens national health goals and undermines decades of progress.
They warned that in spite of the availability of free treatment services nationwide, stigma, limited funding, and delayed health-seeking behaviours continue to fuel the spread of the disease and weaken public health response efforts.
The appeal was made during a welcome ceremony for Commissioners for Health and Chief Medical Directors at the 66th National Council on Health in Calabar on Thursday, where stakeholders highlighted growing concerns about tuberculosis transmission nationwide.
Executive Secretary of Stop TB Partnership Nigeria, Mayowa Joel, described the current TB prevalence as alarming, stressing that the disease remained both preventable and curable, yet continued spreading due to stigma, misinformation and delayed health-seeking behaviours.
Joel emphasised that stigma significantly hindered timely diagnosis and treatment uptake, urging Nigerians to support testing, encourage affected individuals, and understand that tuberculosis was an airborne infection requiring medical care, not a spiritual attack or curse.
He noted that Nigeria records about 500,000 TB cases annually, ranking sixth globally and highest in Africa, with one death reported every eight minutes in spite of the nationwide availability of free diagnostic and treatment services.
Children remained disproportionately affected, Joel said, citing 57,000 new paediatric TB cases yearly and more than 80,000 eligible for preventive treatment, yet only a small percentage currently receive it.
He commended the Federal Government, First Lady Oluremi Tinubu, and the Coordinating Minister of Health, Muhammad Pate, for advancing commitments toward achieving Nigeria’s 2030 TB elimination target, while urging intensified implementation at state and community levels.
Global Fund Country Coordinating Mechanism Executive Secretary Ibrahim Tajudeen, urged states to adopt innovative health financing, warning that declining donor funds required stronger domestic investment to sustain nationwide TB services and broader primary healthcare improvements.
Tajudeen emphasised that the one per cent Consolidated Revenue Fund offered a pathway to strengthen more than 13,200 primary healthcare centres, stressing donor contributions should complement, not replace, consistent federal and state government funding commitments.
He also said states should work to reduce out-of-pocket expenditure so no Nigerian is denied essential care due to cost, adding that they must prioritise efficiency, disease prevention, diagnostics and treatment to curb tuberculosis and improve health outcomes. (NAN)
