Kebbi State Ministry of Health, says it has achieved a 62 per cent cure rate of Tuberculosis (TB) cases between 2019 and 2020 in the state.
The Commissioner of Health, Alhaji Ja’afar Muhammad, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Birnin Kebbi.
Muhammad said that TB remained a serious public health challenge worldwide with high burden in Asia and African Continent.
According to him, the National TB Prevalence Survey (2016) ranks Nigeria 4th among the 30 high burden countries globally and number one in Africa, with a projected incidence rate of 322 per 100, 000 population.
Muhammad said: “Nigeria is also among the 30 burdens Drug Resistance Tuberculosis (DR-TB) countries in the world, with drug resistance of 4.3 per cent among new cases and 25 per cent among treatment cases, according to World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2016.
“The state TB control program recorded a lot of success as it achieved a 62 per cent cure rate of TB cases.
“The success rate is 94 per cent, death rate three per cent and lost to follow-up of two per cent while 100 per cent directly observed treatment (DOT)”.
He said TB care services was 100 per cent sponsored by the state government with the support of the National TB control program and development partners.
The commissioner noted that the gesture was a clear demonstration of the state government’s commitment towards effective health care service delivery to the people.
Muhammad lamented the difficulty in tracing the affected community for case detection, referral of suspected cases for TB diagnosis and treatment are among the challenges facing effective campaign against the disease.
The commissioner called on people to report suspicious TB cases to the nearest health facility for early detection and treatment.