By CHIOMA OBINNA

THOMPSON Cole, 33, may be counted among the missing three million people that do not have access to Tuberculosis treatment.  Born and raised in a small village, poor health and poverty prevented him  from accessing health care.

He recalls: “I had this terrible cough for sometime now and it never went away. After sometime, I gradually began to lose weight; felt constantly fatigued from the hard work and had a prolonged fever. My cough became worse, even though I didn’t have a sore throat, and I noticed blood tinges in my sputum. But, without a penny, how could I get a consultation from a private clinic?”

Although Cole’s symptoms sounded similar to that experienced by people suffering from TB, he was not bothered.

Attitude of health workers

Even when he managed to go for screening which came out positive, he told himself not to worry. He had tried accessing care from health centres around but attitude of the health workers put him off. He decided to live with the condition. But today, Thompson is late.

The World Health Organisation, WHO, estimates that a third of the nine million people who fall ill with TB each year miss out on diagnosis and treatment.  Unfortunately, the WHO and the Stop TB Partnership have said that 75 percent of the three million cases are concentrated in 12 countries.

Nigeria ranks 4th out of the 22 countries that have 75 per cent of the global burden of TB. An estimated 450,000 new TB cases occur annually. While only a few numbers are detected. The Global Fund has also set in place a regional initiatives mechanism to fight MDR-TB in the most efficient way. Poverty, social stigma and lack of health system awareness all contribute to the fact that only few Nigerian patients are less likely to access testing services.

Another major reason many TB cases end up being missed is shortage of affordable, reliable diagnosis technology.  The best way to control TB is early detection.

To tackle TB effectively, the World Health Organisation, WHO, recommends that countries must detect at least 75 per cent of active case and attain 85 per cent treatment. In Nigeria only 36 per cent are detected and over 60 per cent cases are not being treated. The implication of this, according to experts, is that anybody can be infected with TB.

Also, investigations have shown that escalating number of Multi- Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB) cases in Nigeria currently constitutes a major source of worry.

There are fears there may be total collapse of the efficacy of the available first-line drugs for TB treatment.  Unfortunately, many Nigerians due to poverty cannot afford the second line drugs which experts say it is out of the rich of the rural poor.

Findings have shown that the spectre of resistance is fast overwhelming important anti-TB drugs such as Isoniazid and Rifampicin.

The Global Fund is accelerating efforts to support countries implementing tuberculosis programs with the aim of reaching three million people that are not diagnosed, treated or documented in the fight against the disease every year.

However, as the world marks this year’s World TB Day, experts are calling for accelerated efforts to reach the three million people that are not diagnosed, treated or documented in the fight against the disease every year.

Nigeria recieved a total of US$160.5 million from the Global Fund to fight Tuberculosis for the 2014 -2016 period.