Experts have said that increased domestic funding, political commitment, and multisectoral approach are necessary to ending tuberculosis in Nigeria.
They stated this on Saturday in Abuja during the 2021 National TB Conference organised by the Stop TB Partnership Nigeria, National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme (NTBLCP), and other partners.
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The Executive Director of KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation, Dr Gidado Mustapha, said the adoption of these three measures led to the success stories of polio eradication, Ebola containment and the COVID-19 response in the country.
Stating the need to infuse urgency into the TB response, he said KNCV/Challenge TB was committed to providing technical support, sharing best practices and pushing innovation into the TB response.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) Country Representative in Nigeria, Dr Walter Mulombo, said about 70 per cent of the estimated TB cases in the country in 2020 was not detected.
Mulombo represented by his deputy, Chimbaru Alexander, said undetected TB cases had continued to fuel the spread of the disease in the community.
The Provost, College of Medicine, Kaduna State University, Professor Abdullahi Alkali Abba, in his keynote address called for increased financing and research, and innovation for TB.
