By Gabriel Olawale

As Nigeria joined rest of the world in commemoration of World Tuberculosis Day, Program Director of Development Communications Network (DevComs Network), Mr. Akin Jimoh has raised alarm over the need for urgent investment towards putting an end to preventable and curable diseases like tuberculosis to address the needles deaths and infirmities in Nigeria.

Speaking on the global theme of 2022, “Invest to End TB. Save Lives” Jimoh said that the government needs to pay urgent attention to the response to TB disease which has not gone anywhere despite Nigerians’ distraction due to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jimoh who is the 2nd Vice Chairman for the Lagos State Stop TB Partnership Nigeria said that, of the $373 million needed for TB control in Nigeria in the year 2020, only 31% was available to all the implementers of TB control activities (7% domestic and 24% donor funds), with a 69% funding gap.

“TB is a huge burden in Nigeria which can be tackled with adequate investment, it can be prevented, diagnosed, treated and cured. The Nigerian government must step up and triple or quadruple TB funding to save lives and end TB by 2030.

“Global efforts to combat TB have saved an estimated 66 million lives since the year 2000. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has reversed years of progress made in the fight to end TB. For the first time in over a decade, TB deaths increased in 2020. World TB Day is an opportunity to focus on the people affected by this disease and to call for accelerated action to end TB suffering and deaths, especially in the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” he added.