About 18 Nigerians die of tuberculosis every hour – Expert

At least 18 Nigerians die from Tuberculosis (TB) every hour, a TB expert, Lovett Lawson, has said.

Mr Lawson, the Board Chairman of Stop TB partnership Nigeria, disclosed this at a pre-World TB Day press conference in Abuja on Thursday.

The World TB Day is celebrated March 24 to raise awareness about the health, social and economic consequence of the disease and to step up efforts to end TB epidemic.

According to the Global TB report, the disease causes ill health for approximately 10 million people each year.

Mr Lawson said Nigeria has the highest burden of the disease in Africa and the third highest burden in the world after India and Indonesia.

He lamented that over 75 per cent of Nigerians with the disease are yet to be diagnosed or receive any form of treatment.

This, he blamed on the lack of awareness about the disease among the communities and the social stigma attached to those diagnosed with the ailment.

He said though, in recent times, Nigeria has been improving its efforts in finding the missing cases, those cases yet to be detected are more than those reported.

Detecting all cases, he said, is very important because the missing cases are a risk to those who are not infected.

Mr Lawson advised Nigerians who have been coughing for more than two weeks to visit health facilities because an infected person can infect 10 to 15 persons if not quickly treated.

– Premium Times