Anambra state government has joined their counterparts worldwide to commemorate the 2023 Tuberculosis Day Celebration.
Tuberculosis is a communicable disease which has been present in humans since ancient times and usually caused by the bacterium mycobacterium tuberculosis and it generally affects the lungs known as pulmonary TB. but it can also affect other parts of the body.
According to the World Health Organization, TB has remained one of the deadliest infectious killers, statistics revealed that each day, over four thousand one hundred people lose their lives to TB, and close to twenty-eight thousand people fall ill with the disease.
In 2022, nine point nine million people fell ill with tuberculosis with one point five million deaths and about half of all the people with tuberculosis can be found in eight countries namely Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines and South Africa.
Speaking during a press briefing to mark the day in Awka, the Anambra state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Afam Obidike said that the day provides the opportunity to raise public awareness on the devastating health, social and economic consequences of tuberculosis and to step up efforts to end the global TB epidemic.
Dr. Obidike revealed that the current administration in the state has remained focused in making sure that TB programme is given all the necessary support in order to end it, and that the TB programme in Anambra has detected more than eight thousand TB cases against the targeted number of more than thirteen thousand TB cases in Anambra state.
The Anambra State Tuberculosis Programme Manager and Director Medical Services, Dr. Ugochukwu Chukwulobelu noted that the current treatment for all forms of TB is free and there are more than eight hundred health facilities that offer tuberculosis treatment in the state.
Goodwill messages equally came from the various development partners in the state, including the W.H.O.
this year’s World TB celebration is “Yes, We Can End TB. Get Involved”.
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