The federal government has expressed concern over the increasing prevalence of tuberculosis in Anambra State, particularly among youngsters.
The announcement was made during a meeting with journalists in the state by the Federal Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation and Breakthrough Action Nigeria.
Medical specialists from the health ministry, the KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation, and Breakthrough Action Nigeria emphasized the disease’s transmission, treatment, and stigma.
Medical specialists from the health ministry, the KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation, and Breakthrough Action Nigeria emphasized the disease’s transmission, treatment, and stigma.
Dr Oke Chijioke, Stella Eke, and Mr Iheanacho Oji have all cautioned that tuberculosis is becoming quite common among children in Anambra State.
The speakers urged anyone who fear they have tuberculosis to seek medical attention rather than stigmatizing tuberculosis patients.
Chijioke said: “We know that the low childhood tuberculosis awareness and refusal by parents to have their children tested has remained a major bane of eradicating the disease.
“To test children for tuberculosis, you have to take their stool. This is because children do not know how to spit out sputum after coughing, rather they swallow them.
“But the challenge now is that parents refuse to let doctors have their children’s stool for the test. Some attribute such demands to fetishism while many attribute their illness to their uncles in the village. We need the media to sensitize the people about this.”
Mrs. Eke listed some tuberculosis symptoms as a two-week cough, weight loss, increased night sweating, and others.
Earlier, Dr Chukwulobelu Ugochukwu, the Health Ministry’s Programme Manager for Childhood Tuberculosis, Leprosy, and Buruli Ulcer, offered an opening comment and also presented a paper, informing the audience that Anambra has 14 testing centers and over 800 treatment facilities across the state.
“TB is treated through dedicated oral medication for six months, but after the first three months of medication, the patient will no longer be infectious,” he said.
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