WHO Pledges Support to Eliminate TB in Enugu State

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The World Health Organisation (WHO), has pledged to support Enugu State to fight and eliminate incidences of Tuberculosis (TB), in the state.

Dr Ufuoma Aduh, National Professional Officer, Tuberculosis, WHO, South-East, Enugu, made the pledge during the Flag-Off of 2024 World Tuberculosis Day in Enugu.

The event was organised by the Enugu State Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the State Tuberculosis Buruli Ulcer and Leprosy Control Programme.

Aduh said the organisation would mobilise more grants to support Enugu State, stressing that in next few months mobile road shows would be rolled out to sensitise communities on the dangers of TB and the need to get treated.

According to the national professional officer, TB is curable and preventable, and that the world has all it takes to end it through community interventions.

“We must work collectively to end TB, especially as WHO is playing a global role to end it by providing technical supports.

“In Nigeria and down to Enugu State, Nigeria is number 6 burden cases of TB globally and in the South-East zone, Enugu State still have a huge burden of TB.

“We are not finding new cases of TB in Enugu but more work needed to be done to end it and if we fail to do it, it will continue to ravage and make people poor and cause ill health,” he said.

Speaking, the Wife of Enugu State Governor, Mrs Nkechinyere Mbah, commended TB control partners in the state for their contributions to end tuberculosis in the state.

The partners are the WHO, Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN) and Association for Reproductive and Family Health (ARFH), German Leprosy and Tuberculosis Relief Association (GLRA) and CARITAS Catholic Foundation of Nigeria.

Mbah, represented by her Special Adviser on Gender, Dr Uzoamaka Uzoechina, said she was committed to ending TB in Enugu State and would continue to support all efforts to achieve it.

She noted that, “TB was the single most crucial killer disease globally, affecting all ages and genders.”

She noted that in 2018 global TB ranking, Nigeria was first in Africa among countries with the highest TB burden and ranked 4th among countries with the majority of missing TB cases globally.

According to her, Enugu State has over 4,955 missing TB cases that are yet to be detected in the community due to specific health system challenges.

“So, to end TB in the state, I encourage you to continue with more active case searches in the communities.

“This will help us to identify TB cases and place them on treatment to reduce disease spread,” she said.

In a message, the Commissioner for Health, Dr Emmanuel Obi, said the flag off was part of activities to mark 2024 TB Day.

According to him, TB is detected when a chronic cough usually lasts for two weeks or more and defies treatment.

He advised such patients to visit their healthcare facility for further treatment.

“So we are calling on the general public to avail themselves of the opportunity to be screened. We have over 596 facilities in Enugu State giving out TB treatment.

“Government is joining hands with all our partners to eliminate TB in Enugu State,” he said.

Earlier in a welcome address, the Programme Manager, TB, Leprosy and Buruli Ulcer Programme, Enugu State, Dr Chidiebere Odo, said the awareness was important because of the high burden TB was creating in the society.

He stated that available statistics showed that Enugu had monthly average of over 300 cases of active TB cases.

“So we are here to create awareness to the public to know about TB and see how we can end TB.

“Its elimination is not something an individual can do but can be eradicated through collective efforts.

“We are here as ambassadors and representatives, so go and spread the news about TB to people on how to know the symptoms to look out for and direct them where they can have access to treatment.

“In Enugu State, we have over 500 facilities spread across 17 Council Areas of the state where these services are being done,” he said.