Osun, Tuberculosis, Report, sheadng

A report from the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria, (IHVN), Tuberculosis Local Organisation Network 3, has revealed that no fewer than 36,482 cases of Tuberculosis have been detected in Oyo, Osun, Lagos, and Ogun states between April 2020 and March 2022. According to the report Oyo State leads with 10,177 cases; followed by Osun State with 9,690; Lagos State with 9,153; and Ogun State with 7,462 cases. TB is the leading cause of death among People Living with HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria, and the most common opportunistic infection. According to USAID, TB and drug-resistant TB remain large problems in Nigeria, which bears one of the highest TB burdens in Africa. The World Health Organisation said TB is caused by bacteria (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) and it most often affects the lungs. It said about half of all persons with TB can be found in Nigeria, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines, and South Africa. Every year, 10 million persons fall ill with TB. Despite being a preventable and curable disease, 1.5 million persons die from TB every year – making it the world’s top infectious killer. TB is the leading cause of death of people with HIV and also a major contributor to antimicrobial resistance,” it said. Medical experts, however, have called for an improved primary health system, increased funding, and the involvement of local councils as ways to reduce the burden of TB in the country. Dr. Oladapo Asiyanbi, an epidemiologist, said the challenges of TB were more than the available resources. Asiyanbi said, TB is a disease of contact and if you have households where you have an average of six persons per household with a terrible housing condition, coupled with a poor level of literacy, it becomes bad when they attribute the disease to the wrong causes. SOURCE: PUNCH NEWSPAPER, NIGERIA – Lagos, others record 36,482 tuberculosis cases in two years