Nigeria must depend less on foreign grants for TB control – Lawmaker, Ogah

The Chairman, House Committee on HIV/ AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Control, Amobi Ogah, has described as worrisome, Nigeria’s statistics as they relates to Tuberculosis.

Ogah who stated this in Abuja during a Tuberculosis sensitisation campaign at the Garki Ultra-Modern Market, said Nigeria being the first in Africa, sixth in the world and accounting for about 4.6% of the global TB burden was a source of concern.

The legislator further expressed dismay at the fact that Nigeria is primarily dependent on international funding for its TB control campaign, saying only six percent comes from domestic sources.

Ogah called for a deliberate investment in building the capacity of health workers and systems that will promote rapid case finding and research on TB in Nigeria.

He said, ”it is indeed disheartening to note that of the 38 million dollars required to fight TB in Nigeria, 24% came from international funding sources with only 6% from domestic sources leaving a gap of 70% unfunded.

“We are aware that one of the challenges that people affected by TB face is stigma and discrimination and this hinders them from starting or completing their treatment.

”The Nigerian Government must take the lead in the fight against TB by providing the necessary funds needed to drive the process of ending TB by year 2030.

”As parliamentarians, we have taken up this challenge and we will strengthen advocacy for more government interventions in the area of allocation and release of resources to fight TB and less dependency on foreign grants and donations.

”We must also invest in research and development, as well as data gathering as we can no longer rely on obsolete data in making informed decisions on programs for ending TB”.