A Non-Governmental Organisation, the Jannah Health Foundation has raised concern over the high burden of Tuberculosis among vulnerable Nigerians.
The founder of the group, Dr Stephen John, brought attention to this at a validation meeting held with health stakeholders, in Yola, Adamawa State on Thursday.
According to him, the disease has been a highly infectious public health issue despite achieving 59 per cent treatment coverage in the country.
He revealed that about 280,000 people are presently living with the disease and over 300,000 have died of it in the country.
“High rates of TB have been reported among certain populations – Key and Vulnerable Populations in Nigeria.
“The vulnerable group includes nomads, refugees, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), miners, people living with HIV, slum dwellers, inmates of correctional facilities, children, healthcare workers, among others,” he said.
John, who is also a Sustainable Development Goals ambassador, noted that about 3,500 TB cases had been diagnosed annually in Adamawa and that the vulnerable populations were at higher risk of TB infection due to poor access to health services, low-level awareness of the disease, poor vaccination coverage, malnutrition, living in poorly ventilated and overcrowded tents.
The Foundation, he said, had detected thousands of TB cases since it began interventions in the past 10 years in Nigeria, adding that in partnership with Stop TB Partnership Nigeria and Geneva, it implemented the JHF programme, which has helped in identifying barriers to accessing TB services.
At the validation meeting, he explained that it was designed to showcase the activities of the JHF in identifying the target population for effective programme planning and implementation.
(NAN)
