TB IN NIGERIA

A major issue with TB in Nigeria is the low TB case finding for both adults and children.

TB IN NIGERIA

GLOBAL STATISTICS:

  • Tuberculosis (TB) is an air-borne disease caused by a germ known as Mycobacterium Tuberculosis. TB is both preventable and curable.

  • TB is the number 1 infectious killer disease in the world and among the top 10 causes of death worldwide.

  • One-quarter of the world’s population, (approximately 1.9 billion people) is infected with TB (live with

    the causative organism, in a dormant/inactive state).

  • Every year, it is estimated that 10 million people develop active TB disease following the re-activation of

    the dormant organism or from community transmission of active forms of the organism. Of these,

    approximately 1.1 million are children and 860,000 people living with HIV.

  • 3 million persons miss out on care and treatment annually, another 500,000 develop a drug-resistant

    form of TB (DR-TB; not curable with usual TB drugs), with only 1 in 3 able to receive the appropriate treatment for DR-TB.

TB FACTS IN NIGERIA

  • Nigeria has a high triple burden of TB, DR-TB and HIV-associated TB, and is one of the 10 countries that contribute the highest number of missing TB cases globally

  • Nigeria also ranks first in Africa and sixth in the world, accounting for about 4.6% of the global TB burden

  • An estimated 15 Nigerians die each hour due to TB, equivalent to about 347 deaths daily, 10,417 monthly

    and 125,000 in a year.

  • Nigeria’s TB incidence rate is about 219 in a 100,000 population with an estimated total of 467,000

    persons who have active TB disease. In 2021, the National TB, Leprosy and Buruli Ulcer Control Program

    (NTBLCP) notified 207,785 having a gap of 56% of the estimated cases unidentified.

  • In 2021 about 2,975 DR-TB cases were diagnosed out of an estimated 21,000 cases in the country, leaving

    out more than 80% of the resistant cases missing

  • Whereas Directly Observed Treatment short course (DOTs) clinics for TB treatment and care are available

    in up to 50% of health facilities in Nigeria, only 9% of these have facilities for laboratory diagnosis of TB

    infection and disease.

  • TB Disease is often more severe in children less than 15 years, with higher mortality amongst those less

    than 5 years. The notification of children with active disease and latent TB has remained abysmally low,

    accounting for just 6% (out of the country’s total of 450,000) of all forms of notified TB cases in 2021.

  • Only about 11% of children with TB disease out of the estimated country total of 77,000 cases were

    notified in 2021 by the NTBLCP.

  • Of the $373 million needed for TB control in Nigeria in the year 2020, only 31% was available to all the

    implementers of TB control activities in Nigeria (7% domestic and 24% donor funds), with a 69% funding gap. The 7% domestic contribution is mainly for personnel.