Kano State government said it has screened over 41,056 persons across the state during its Tuberculosis testing week as the number of patients placed on treatment rose to 8,820.
The Commissioner of Health, Dr Abubakar Labaran Yusuf made this known at the close out of the 2023 National TB Testing Week in Kano.
He said, “During the testing week alone, we screened over 41,056, diagnosed and placed on TB treatment 238 people including 44 children. Also, we placed 305 patients on TB prevention treatment.”
Daily Trust reported that during the opening briefing of the exercise, the commissioner said 8,277 patients were placed on Tuberculosis (TB) treatment in the last one week which makes it the highest quarterly TB notification ever in Nigeria.
Similarly, Dr Yusuf on behalf of the state government launched a community outreach facility in Tarauni Local Government Area as a step to reach out to the grassroots while calling on all the teeming populace of Kano to go to the nearest health facility and get screened for TB as the routine TB interventions will continue across the state.
The commissioner further revealed that the state government in collaboration with its partners has been doing a lot towards ending TB burden and transmission, which include expansion of the TB diagnostic equipment to cover distant communities in Kano State; deployment of mobile TB screening tools and machines for TB screening and diagnosis and training of healthcare workers on TB diagnosis, treatment and reporting.
He therefore called on citizens, males and females, young and old across Kano State to go to the nearest Health Facility for TB screening, early diagnosis and prompt treatment free of charge.