Nigeria records 420 deaths daily from Tuberculosis even as the country has the second largest burden of TB in Africa and fourth in the world, it has been revealed.
This emerged during the Public Private Mix (PPM) summit for Tuberculosis control in Nigeria held in Lagos on Monday.
The summit was an appraisal of the private sector involvement in TB control in Nigeria with specific reference to the social investment in TB management by the Agbami parties comprising NNPC, Chevron, Famfa Oil, Petrobras and Statoil.
The Coordinator, National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme, Dr. Adebola Lawanson, said the TB prevalence rate in Nigeria is alarming and many people are nonchalant about it.
“TB kills more people than plane crash and if we can put in place measure to safeguard the aviation industry, we need to checkmate the spread of TB”, she said.
According to her, there were over 300,000 undiagnosed TB patients even as three in four patients are not on treatment.
She explained further that each of the undiagnosed TB patients is capable of infecting 10 to 15 people.
Lawanson commended the Agbami parties for their social investment in TB and other communicable diseases, urging other private organizations to follow suit.
Director, Star Deepwater Petroleum Limited (A Chevron company), Mr. Rick Kennedy said the Agbami parties are committed to building mutually beneficial partnerships and supporting government efforts in Nigeria’s health sector.
As part of their contributions to TB management, the Agbami parties have provided treatment for 63,629 beneficiaries, detected 5,011 presumptive cases while 1,353 cases were detected.
Kennedy said, “Our support is inspired by our view that provision of quality healthcare delivery is a crucial social service that will help build a healthy citizenry and develop the country.
“Agbami parties are commited to investing in several healthcare programmes to support the communities where we operate”.
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