HealthNews

World TB Day: Taking the fight against Tuberculosis to Ayobo, Lagos

The United States Consul General in Lagos, Mr Will Stevens, has praised the efforts of Nigerian partners in battling tuberculosis and other infectious diseases in Nigeria.

Mr Stevens, who gave the commendation at an Integrated Community Health Outreach in Ayobo in Alimosho Council Area of Lagos State, said the time had come for African solutions to address global problems.

The health outreach was funded by the USAID with the support of the Federal and Lagos State Governments and implemented by the Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria.

Between April 2020 and February 2023, one thousand six hundred and forty-three tuberculosis cases were diagnosed in Alimosho Local Government, the largest council area in Lagos State.

Further analysis showed a high disease burden in the Ayobo area of the local government, necessitating the scaling up of the USAID TB-LON3 project on the community to mark World Tuberculosis Day.

Praising the efforts of the various partners in the project in Ayobo, the United States Consul General in Lagos, Mr Will Stevens, said the effort of partners in tackling COVID-19 had reflected in the fight against the spread of tuberculosis, necessitating his call for African solutions to global health problems.

“And the work we’ve been doing since 2003 to work together to combat tuberculosis is absolutely incredible. But I want to commend all the people over here, our health care workers are the ones doing the hard work right now because they have been on the frontlines in incredible battle for the last three years,” said the Consul Geneal.

The Managing Director of the Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria, Dr Charles Mensah, said more than five hundred residents of Ayobo benefitted from the one-day health outreach, saying that sensitizing the community was crucial to winning the battle against the spread of tuberculosis.

Dr Charles Mensah, Managing Director, Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria

“Credence to the World TB Day and used it as an opportunity to reach out to the community and help the community to identify some diseases or some illnesses that may be prevalent in the community and that’s why you see us doing the TB test, COVID-19 test, the HIV test, the cardiovascular screening like blood pressure and so forth. It is just to reach out to the community,” Dr Mensah said.

Earlier, the Permanent Secretary of Lagos State Primary Health Care Board, Dr Ibrahim Mustapha, commended the USAID for helping to reduce the infectious disease burden in the state.

“Let me express the gratitude of the state government to the USAID and the United States government for your efforts at bringing tuberculosis to a very low level in a densely populated state like Lagos,” said Dr Mustapha.

From the community health outreach, the team moved to the Orisunmbare Senior High School, Ayobo, to inaugurate the school health club to ensure early reporting and detecting of tuberculosis cases among school children.

Some beneficiaries of the health outreach in Ayobo, Alimosho LGA, Lagos

The Managing Director of the Institute of Virology, Nigeria, Dr Charles Mensah, said that properly sensitized children would positively contribute to the fight against tuberculosis.

Community and religious leaders and other stakeholders attended the events.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button