Lagos Records 52,652 Tuberculosis Cases In Four Years – Health Commissioner

The Lagos State Health Commissioner, Prof Akin Abayomi said 52,652 tuberculosis cases were recorded at the national level in four years.

Prof Abayomi said 11,723 cases were captured in 2019; 10,150 in 2020; 13,499 in 2021; and 17,280 in 2022.

Abayomi disclosed this on his Instagram handle @ProfAkinAbayomi on Sunday.

He said Lagos state accounts for 11 per cent of TB cases in Nigeria with an estimated 54,000 persons projected to be suffering from TB, based on the National Incidence Rate of 219 per 100,000 population.

World TB Day is marked yearly on March 24 to raise public awareness about the devastating health, social and economic consequences of this preventable disease and call for accelerated action to end it.

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This year’s theme, ‘Yes, we can end TB’, highlights the need to ensure equitable access to prevention and care, in line with the drive towards Universal Health Coverage and Sustainable Development Goals.

“The numbers of TB cases are staggering; the impacts are getting more severe.

“TB remains one of the world’s deadliest infectious killers, and it is the commonest cause of death among persons living with HIV. According to the global TB report 2022, about 10.9 million people fell ill due to TB in 2021 and 1.5 million deaths occurred due to TB infection. Nigeria is ranked 6th among the countries that contribute to the global burden of TB with over 440,000 estimated cases as of 2019. Lagos State accounts for 11 per cent of TB cases in Nigeria with an estimated 54,000 persons projected to be suffering from TB based on the National Incidence Rate of 219 per 100,000 population.

“TB cases from Lagos state captured at the national level were 11,723; 10,150; 13,499 and 17,280 in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 respectively,” he said.

The commissioner said the public health threat posed by TB has become more complicated with the emergence of drug-resistant Tuberculosis and Drug Resistant TB variants of the disease caused by strains of the causative bacteria that are resistant to commonly used medications.

He said DR-TB and XDR-TB account for more severe cases that are difficult to treat thereby requiring the use of very toxic and expensive medications.

According to him, there are many individuals suffering from TB in the state who are yet to report to health facilities and who remain undetected, untreated, and therefore pose an infection risk to society.

He said the state has no fewer than 4,300 TB cases that are on active treatment in public health facilities.

“Notwithstanding the enormous burden of TB disease in Lagos State, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration in collaboration with Development partners are unrelenting in the effort to bring the scourge to an end.

“The government has put in place the needed resources to ensure the availability of free TB services in over 1,200 health facilities which include Primary Health Care Centers, General Hospitals, and Tertiary Health Institutions. The government has provided three chest X-ray vans for deployment to scale up access to TB screening in communities and 18 health facilities across Lagos State.

“The state-of-the-art X-ray machines available in public health facilities are aimed at facilitating TB screening and ensuring access to efficient treatments,” he added.

He noted that TB is preventable, treatable, and curable.

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