Kano State has consistently maintained its high ranking of Tuberculosis (TB) burden in Nigeria, grading as one of the six high TB burden states across the country.
Grassroots Parrot gathered that Nigeria is ranked 6th among the thirty (30) high TB burden countries and 1st in Africa.
But the situation is even frightening in Kano – one of the most populous states in the country – which is ranked as one of the six high TB burden states.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Abubakar Labaran Yusuf disclosed this on Monday at a press briefing organized to mark this year’s World TB Day with theme: Yes, We Can End TB. However, the State’s Slogan is: “No gree for TB, Check am O”.
Dr. Yusuf said “Our 2022 TB burden based on national data stood at 39,420 cases and we were able to notify and treat 36,843 patients (93%) which is the highest ever notification by any state in Nigeria.
According to him, the state government is partnering with the World Health Organizations WHO, Breakthrough Action Nigeria (BA-N), NCDC, and UNICEF, amongst others to treat its patients for free.
While cautioning that any untreated TB patient can transmit the disease to 10-15 people within a year, the Commissioner called for concerted efforts of all stakeholders to fight the disease in the State.
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The Commissioner further said to reduce the burden and transmission of TB, the State Government has approved the release of the state TB and Leprosy counterpart funds for various interventions in the control of TB.
He identified other measures of the state government to reduce the burden to include deployment of twenty (20) Portable Digital X ray machines with Artificial Intelligence which on 13th February 2024.
The expansion of TB laboratory services with three additional TB LAMP machines for timely diagnosis of TB making a total of nine machines in Kano, one of the highest in Nigeria.
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The Commissioner noted that there are a total of eight additional TrueNat machines in Kano, making a total of 14 TrueNat machines to boost TB diagnosis as against last year when the state had only five.
“We are also expanding the LF LAM testing platform for quick TB diagnosis among HIV infected persons in the state in addition to massive contact tracing and TB preventive therapy (called TPT), including during the national TB testing week”. He added.