Nigeria observed 2024 World TB Day, honouring the millions who have succumbed to tuberculosis while raising awareness of the disease’s prevalence in the country.
Despite the ongoing burden of tuberculosis, Nigeria on Tuesday in Abuja, celebrated the strides made by the National Tuberculosis Leprosy and Buruli Ulcer Control programme in combating the disease.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that World TB Day (WTBD) is marked on March 24 every year to create awareness about the impact of the disease.
The theme of the 2024 WTBD is “Yes, we can end TB” and Nigeria’s slogan is “No gree for TB, check am o.”
The World TB Day 2024 underscores the urgent need for collective action to fulfil commitments to eradicate tuberculosis by 2030.
Dr Bethrand Odume, Executive Director of KNCV TB Foundation, Nigeria, said the theme conveys the urgent need to come together and ramp up the fight against TB to achieve commitments to end the disease by 2030.
Odume said “this is a continuation of last year’s World TB Day theme which brings attention to TB and our collective power to achieve the 2023 UN High-Level Meeting on TB Political Declaration targets, which will put the world on course to end TB by 2030.
“It brings hope and builds on the amazing work done in 2023 by many TB High Burden Countries and TB Champions around the world who continue to make incredible strides to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic by increasing access to TB treatment and prevention,” he said.
He said that the theme focuses on the increased engagement of those affected by TB, communities, and civil society who are leading the movement towards ending this disease.
Odume said it also identifies the progress made in research and development, including many new TB diagnosis tools, shorter, more efficient treatment and preventive regimens as well as several vaccines in phase three clinical trials.
He said the time to accelerate all efforts towards ending TB was now more than ever before.
“We all need to sustain the progress we have made in recent years in finding missing TB cases, by scaling up key proven strategies while sustaining advocacy efforts to improve funding from the government and the private sector,” he said.
He said KNCV was working with the NTBLPC and state TB programmes in the 14 supported states to improve TB case detection in Nigeria under the USAID-supported TB LONDON project.
Dr Queen Ogbuji-Ladipo, Acting Board Chair of Stop TB Partnership Nigeria, emphasised the significance of World TB Day in raising awareness about tuberculosis and renewing the commitment to eradicate this devastating disease.
“Today, we are officially launching the planned activities for the 2024 World TB Day to bolster public involvement and mobilize efforts against TB, and we are also announcing the 2024 National TB Conference,” she stated.
Ogbuji-Ladipo said the event offers partners a platform to engage with the media, reflecting on progress made, persistent challenges, and the collective efforts needed to overcome them.
“I encourage each of you to lend your voices to this vital cause, to unite in solidarity, and to advocate for policies and actions prioritizing TB prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Together, we can make a difference. Yes, we can end TB,” she affirmed.
Dr Evaezi Okpokoro, Coordinator of the International Research Center of Excellence (IRCE) at the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN), underscored significant progress made in the past decade across diagnostic, treatment, and prevention services for tuberculosis (TB).
“In recent years, there has been a notable development in various diagnostic platforms tailored to patient-centred treatment for Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis (DR-TB), including the XDR platform and TB genomics.
“Additionally, the introduction of all-oral medications has replaced injectables, reducing their adverse effects.
“Moreover, newer and safer medications have been developed for preventing TB among contacts of index TB cases and people living with HIV (PLHIV).
“Despite these advancements, ongoing trials for TB vaccines are progressing through different phases of development,” he said.
Okpokoro highlighted that the IRCE was currently involved in a Phase Four multisite, multi-country TB trial focusing on a novel diagnostic tool for DR-TB known as TRiAD (Triage Test for All Oral DR-TB Regimen).
“This study also assesses the potential use of a new DR-TB monitoring tool called Tuberculosis Molecular Bacterial Load Assay (TB-MBLA).
“The primary objective of the study is to generate local evidence facilitating the integration of the new diagnostic tool into patient management protocols, thereby enhancing its acceptability and effectiveness,” he explained.