The Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has announced that Nigeria has successfully fulfilled the UN Tuberculosis (TB) control mandate established in 2018.  

This disclosure was made by Dr Chukwuma Anyaike, the Director of Public Health, during the Pre-UNHLM on TB National Stakeholders’ Consultation held in Abuja on Thursday, News Agency of Nigeria reported.  

The 2018 UN High-Level Meeting (UNHLM) on TB resulted in the adoption of the Political Declaration on the Fight against TB in September 2018. Dr Anyaike, represented by Dr Urhioke Ochuko, Deputy Director overseeing the Childhood Tuberculosis Unit, revealed that Nigeria had committed to implementing this declaration to attain the specified goals.  

• He disclosed that Nigeria had increased the identification and treatment of TB cases, saying, “We have detected more than 285,000 cases, achieving 60% of the target in 2022.”

He added that the country has taken significant steps to reinforce its healthcare infrastructure, including training healthcare professionals and establishing additional TB treatment centres. 

Milestones hit and challenges faced in the fight against Tuberculosis in Nigeria 

Despite being among the top 10 countries with the highest TB burden globally, Nigeria has made commendable progress in addressing this public health challenge.  

Since 2018, the country has increased the detection and treatment of TB cases, trained more healthcare workers, and established more TB treatment centres, the Director of Public Health revealed.  

Furthermore, preventive TB treatment for Nigerians has notably improved since 2018. The Nigerian government has also demonstrated increased political commitment to TB control by allocating additional funding in collaboration with partners.  

Commenting on the challenges to overcome in TB control in Nigeria, Dr. Anyiake mentioned insufficient funding, low detection of child TB cases, and limited enrollment of diagnosed DR-TB patients in treatment programs.  

Advancing TB control in Nigeria 

Dr. Anyiake urged participants in the Pre-UNHLM on TB National Stakeholders’ Consultation event to explore the possibility of increased investment in TB treatment and innovative financing strategies to align with various interventions in progress.  

One of the participants, Mr. Mayowa Joel, the Executive Secretary of the Stop TB Partnership, emphasized the significance of the 2023 UNHLM special session, which offers an opportunity to comprehensively review the political declaration.  

• In his words, “The theme of 2023 UNHLM on TB is: ‘Advancing science, finance and innovation, and their benefits, to urgently end the global TB epidemic by ensuring equitable access to prevention, testing, treatment and care.

• He further highlighted the importance of the meeting in elevating the political priority of TB, saying, ”It secured a commitment from Heads of State and governments for a coordinated global response, resulting in a substantial increase in financial resources for TB that led to millions of lives being saved from premature deaths from TB.” 

Mr Joel said it was vital for Nigeria to develop a comprehensive and coordinated response to the upcoming UNHLM on TB.