Stakeholders working to reduce the burden of Tuberculosis under The Global Fund to Fight AIDS TB and Malaria grant to Nigeria have called on Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, the president-elect, to make TB control a priority when he assumes office as president. The call was made at the end of Quarter 1 2015 TB Grant Project Implementation review meeting held in Abuja from 12th to 13th of May 2015.
The stakeholders acknowledged the current support from government and immense contribution from development partners to TB Control in Nigeria and recommended adequate budgetary allocation and timely release of funds at federal, state and local government levels.
The group also called for intensified advocacy efforts to the highest level of government including the legislature and state governors. Chairman of the meeting, Prof. O. A Ladipo, President and CEO of Association for Reproductive & Family Health, maintained that tuberculosis remain a major public health concern in Nigeria. He said this was based on the result of the first national prevalence survey carried out in 2012 which revealed an overall prevalence rate of 326 per 100,000 population in Nigeria
Nigeria was rated in 2014 as the third highest Tuberculosis (TB)-burden country in the world and number one in Africa by World Health Organisation (WHO). ARFH is working with National TB and Leprosy Control Programme (NTBLCP), International Anti-Leprosy Organization (ILEP Partners – German Leprosy Relief Association, GLRA; Damian Foundation Belgium, DFB; The Leprosy Mission Nigeria, TLMN and Netherlands Leprosy Relief, NLR), Health Alive Foundation to reduce significantly the burden of TB in Nigeria through the Global Fund Round 9 Phase II TB grant to Nigeria
