The Chief Executive Officer, Institute of Human Virology of Nigeria
(IHVN), Dr Patrick Dakum, has urged the Federal Government to deploy
same strategy it adopted to contain Ebola for its Tuberculosis (TB)
control programme.
Dakum said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
He said a robust community awareness campaign as employed during the Ebola outbreak could help in reversing the figures projected in the recently released TB prevalence survey report.
“You prevent it by first of all addressing those that are suspects and making sure that you contain the infection.
“If you do not want TB to spread we should first of all ensure that nobody is having the micro bacterium and is coughing it around the community.
“Once we identify those people we isolate the
m for the purpose of treatment.
“Now once we do that on a large scale, we reduce the transmission and, therefore, we reduce this huge number of millions projected.
“Because, the projection is that if we do not do something about finding those who have the disease and treating them very promptly, we run the risk of having several other people contracting it.
“Every additional index case you get is a potential for spreading to other people.
“So, the onus lies on us to raise awareness, all stakeholders, the onus lies on our system, the health care system being able to isolate the individuals who have it and providing them with prompt care.’’
Dakum allayed the fears that many Nigerians could be infected with TB as projected in the TB prevalence survey report.
He said the mortality rate for TB when compared to Ebola and other communicable diseases was low, stressing that TB could be treated and managed if identified early enough.
The IHVN chief said government had made adequate provisions in addition to the efforts made by international partners to combat TB and other communicable diseases in the country.
“The mortality from TB is not as high as it is from Ebola, meaning if you take a hundred cases of people who contract Ebola, between 40 and 80 per cent of them will die and that is really high.
“However, mortality from TB as long as you have drugs it is treatable; so you can achieve 100 per cent treatment in all the people that contracted the disease and therefore it is easier to contain, meaning then that if we identify and we treat, then we are able to contain the disease.
“ Government has got a structure called DOT (Directly Observed Treatment) system.
“Most of the local government health facilities, most state hospitals, a lot of the teaching hospitals have a centre that can provide treatment for TB, not only treatment but diagnosis and treatment.’’
He dismissed insinuations that the projected cost for Nigeria’s TB control programme between 2015 and 2020 was overestimated.
According to Dakum, it is an estimate that is based on the reality of what is required in order to carry out treatment for the number of people that have been detected.
He said IHVN through a grant from the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan For Aids Relief (PEPFAR) was supporting 300 health facilities in Nigeria to provide TB treatment.
He said the institute through a grant from the Global Fund was also providing support for TB treatment especially in cases where the disease had become resistant to the normal drugs.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the national TB prevalence survey report projected that no fewer than 4.1 million Nigerians would be infected with TB between 2015 and 2020.
The report also indicated that an estimated 2.5 billion dollars would be required to combat the disease during the same period. (NAN)
Dakum said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
He said a robust community awareness campaign as employed during the Ebola outbreak could help in reversing the figures projected in the recently released TB prevalence survey report.
“You prevent it by first of all addressing those that are suspects and making sure that you contain the infection.
“If you do not want TB to spread we should first of all ensure that nobody is having the micro bacterium and is coughing it around the community.
“Once we identify those people we isolate the
m for the purpose of treatment.
“Now once we do that on a large scale, we reduce the transmission and, therefore, we reduce this huge number of millions projected.
“Because, the projection is that if we do not do something about finding those who have the disease and treating them very promptly, we run the risk of having several other people contracting it.
“Every additional index case you get is a potential for spreading to other people.
“So, the onus lies on us to raise awareness, all stakeholders, the onus lies on our system, the health care system being able to isolate the individuals who have it and providing them with prompt care.’’
Dakum allayed the fears that many Nigerians could be infected with TB as projected in the TB prevalence survey report.
He said the mortality rate for TB when compared to Ebola and other communicable diseases was low, stressing that TB could be treated and managed if identified early enough.
The IHVN chief said government had made adequate provisions in addition to the efforts made by international partners to combat TB and other communicable diseases in the country.
“The mortality from TB is not as high as it is from Ebola, meaning if you take a hundred cases of people who contract Ebola, between 40 and 80 per cent of them will die and that is really high.
“However, mortality from TB as long as you have drugs it is treatable; so you can achieve 100 per cent treatment in all the people that contracted the disease and therefore it is easier to contain, meaning then that if we identify and we treat, then we are able to contain the disease.
“ Government has got a structure called DOT (Directly Observed Treatment) system.
“Most of the local government health facilities, most state hospitals, a lot of the teaching hospitals have a centre that can provide treatment for TB, not only treatment but diagnosis and treatment.’’
He dismissed insinuations that the projected cost for Nigeria’s TB control programme between 2015 and 2020 was overestimated.
According to Dakum, it is an estimate that is based on the reality of what is required in order to carry out treatment for the number of people that have been detected.
He said IHVN through a grant from the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan For Aids Relief (PEPFAR) was supporting 300 health facilities in Nigeria to provide TB treatment.
He said the institute through a grant from the Global Fund was also providing support for TB treatment especially in cases where the disease had become resistant to the normal drugs.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the national TB prevalence survey report projected that no fewer than 4.1 million Nigerians would be infected with TB between 2015 and 2020.
The report also indicated that an estimated 2.5 billion dollars would be required to combat the disease during the same period. (NAN)
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