The Kano State government has placed 8,277 tuberculosis patients on treatment.
The State Commissioner for Health, Abubakar Labaran Yusuf, disclosed this at a press briefing to commemorate this year’s National TB Testing Week.
The number of patients undergoing treatment represents 96 percent of the 8,637 people suffering from the disease in the first quarter of 2023.
But the commissioner said the state’s TB burden stands at 34,547.
According to him, at least 8,637 TB cases are recorded quarterly, and testing and treatment are done free in the state.
“So far, we have expanded our TB diagnostic equipment to cover distant communities in Kano State. We have also deployed our mobile TB screening tools and machines for TB screening and diagnosis,” he said.
“The State Government has trained healthcare workers on TB diagnosis, treatment, and reporting to ensure the success of the excise,” Yusuf added.
On his part, the State Coordinator of Breakthrough ACTION-Nigeria Project, Ahmad Muaz, said a free TB test will be conducted at over a thousand health facilities across the State.
“Over a thousand facilities were set aside for tuberculosis in the State,” according to him.
“So, in the next five days, all these facilities are expected to carry out free TB tests. And anyone who tests positive will be placed on treatment.”
The 2022 Global TB Report shows that 10.6 million people suffer from TB worldwide, with 1.6 million deaths recorded annually, including 218,000 people living with HIV/AIDS.
