A non-governmental organisation, Policy Alert, has appealed for urgent domestic funding to combat the rising cases of Tuberculosis (TB) in Akwa Ibom state and Nigeria at large. According to the group, the state has recorded a staggering 3,200 cases of TB in the first quarter of 2024, with many more expected to go undiagnosed. Speaking during a one day workshop on Transformative Budgeting and Financing for Improved Tuberculosis Services in Nigeria on Tuesday in Uyo, the Executive Director of Policy Alert, Mr.
Tijah Akpan, lamented that both state and federal governments contribute a paltry 6.1 percent funding for TB treatment. He noted that international donors contribute 24 percent, and when added to domestic funding, it leaves a 70 percent gap.
He expressed pessimism that if donors withdraw their funding, TB cases in the country would surge beyond control. Akpan said, “Nigeria, ranked 4th in the world on the Tuberculosis index, has a huge burden of TB cases, and most TB interventions have been left to development partners. “You notice that international development partners handle most of the interventions related to TB intervention programs, awareness campaigns, treatment, prevention, nutritional support, among others.
“This is not sustainable. International development agencies have a very short attention span. They may decide to focus on other issues, and when that happens, you’re left in the cold.
“Yesterday, I was in Ikot Ekpene at an event put together by the House Committee on Health and another development organization, and they were reeling out interventions in different parts of Akwa Ibom State. What baffles me is that over 90% of the interventions were supported by international development partners.” He called on the Akwa Ibom and other state governments to prioritize funding for tuberculosis interventions, stressing that the disease has a bigger economic impact than HIV/AIDS.
“If someone infected with TB is within a particular gathering, there is a high possibility that people around that person would likely be infected, meaning the risk of infection is actually higher, and the economic damage it does to society is also higher,” he said. On his part, Mr. Ekemini Simon, a journalist, revealed that most patients cannot afford nutritional meals to help withstand the high potency of TB medicine.
He stated that most TB centers are dilapidated, calling on lawmakers to always include TB intervention in their constituency projects..
