Health officials want media attention given to Tuberculosis as COVID-19
Tuberculosis, a pulmonary disease characterised by persistent coughing, killed more Nigerians in 2019 than the COVID-19 pandemic has so far done, health officials have said.
The 2020 WHO 'global tuberculosis report' indicated that an estimated 150,000 Nigerians died of TB in 2019 alone while the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said 2,061 persons have died of COVID-19 in the country since the index case in February 2020.
The different datas suggest that COVID-19 has so far killed only about 1.4 per cent of the number killed by TB in 2019 alone.
This data on TB was discussed in Maiduguri on Tuesday at a media orientation on Tuberculosis organised by Breakthrough Action, an NGO supported by USAID.
The WHO report on TB said Nigeria has one of the highest numbers of people dying from the disease, "but only 31 per cent of the affected population have so far registered for treatment."
It is estimated that 18 persons die of TB every hour in Nigeria.
The media training had participants joining in through Zoom from seven states of Nigeria and was aimed at using the media to rekindle awareness of the disease.
An official of the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme (NTBLCP), Ebere Okoh, said the outbreak of COVID-19 last year has worsened the situation of the disease in Nigeria as patients suffering from the disease did not get access to medical treatment due to the lockdown.
Tuberculosis is also a serious disease, and we must also pay great attention to it and prevent it. Although the pandemic is now an immediate killer, we must also pay attention to preventing chronic cough.