By Dirisu Yakubu
The House of Representatives has urged the Federal Government to urgently set up a Trust Fund driven by the private sector to mobilise funds for the control of tuberculosis disease in Nigeria.
During Thursday’s plenary, the lawmakers urged President Bola Tinubu-led government to make available diagnostic equipment for the detection of tuberculosis across the 774 Local Government Areas in the country.
The resolution was passed following the adoption of a motion on a matter of urgent public importance on the need to translate commitments to action to end TB by 2030 sponsored by Labour Party lawmaker from Abia State, Amobi Ogah and six others.
Tuberculosis is an air-borne disease caused by a bacterial (Mycobacterium Tuberculosis) that often affects the lungs.
Leading the debate, Amobi said, “Although TB is curable and preventable, it kills more people than HIV and Malaria combined globally and is the leading cause of death in Nigeria. It is associated with HIV/AIDS, undernutrition, non-communicable diseases, as well as stigma, discrimination, and other human rights abuses.
“The House also notes that Nigeria currently ranks first in Africa and sixth in the world accounting for about 4.6% of global TB burden. According to the World Health Organisation, about 11 million people get infected with TB, and 1.8 million die each year from the disease, making it the world’s top infectious disease killer.
“The House is aware that significant progress has been made in the fight against TB globally resulting in the reduction of deaths by 38% and new cases by 23% which is driven by an increase in TB case detection rates with over 1m more people being diagnosed in 2022 than 2017 according to WHO Global TB Report, 2023.”
Leading the debate, Amobi said, “Although TB is curable and preventable, it kills more people than HIV and Malaria combined globally and is the leading cause of death in Nigeria. It is associated with HIV/AIDS, undernutrition, non-communicable diseases, as well as stigma, discrimination, and other human rights abuses.
“The House also notes that Nigeria currently ranks first in Africa and sixth in the world accounting for about 4.6% of global TB burden. According to the World Health Organisation, about 11 million people get infected with TB, and 1.8 million die each year from the disease, making it the world’s top infectious disease killer.
“The House is aware that significant progress has been made in the fight against TB globally resulting in the reduction of deaths by 38% and new cases by 23% which is driven by an increase in TB case detection rates with over 1m more people being diagnosed in 2022 than 2017 according to WHO Global TB Report, 2023.”
The lawmaker added, “The House is worried that major gaps still exist as almost a third of people with TB still misses out on diagnosis each year and just one-third of people with TB being tested, in addition to vulnerable and marginalised population, with more than half of children under the age of 5 and three-quarters of children with multidrug-resistance TB never being diagnosed and reported to National TB Programs.
“The House is concerned that funding for TB is grossly inadequate both locally and globally and an increase in the number of people being diagnosed and treated requires an increase in the TB budget, especially for vital commodities.
“The House is also aware that nearly 70% of countries supported by the Global Fund are projected to face deficits in their budgets next year, with ten countries alone facing a combined $600m shortfall for 2025. The House is also worried that the Global Disease Split for Global Fund investment for country grants to each of HIV, Malaria and Tuberculosis has remained largely unchanged over the last decade, with TB receiving approximately 18% of available funding compared with 50% for HIV and 32% for Malaria.
“The House also notes that on September 26, 2018, Heads of State and Governments from around the world including Nigeria met in New York at the United Nations high-level meeting on TB and agreed on a set of commitments to end TB by 2030 and on September 22, 2023, the United Nations member states including Nigeria came together for a second united nations high-level meeting on tb to review progress and agree on new sets of commitments to end tb by 2030,” he added.
Consequently, the House tasked the Federal Ministry of Health through the Global Fund Country Coordinating Mechanism in Nigeria to advocate for the immediate increase of Global Disease Split to 35% in favour of TB.
The lawmakers also urged the Federal Government to increase local funding for TB to ensure Nigeria abides by all commitments towards ending TB by 2030.
It also mandated its House Committee on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Leprosy and Malaria Control to present a bill that will address the abuse of rights of those infected with TB.
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