About one in three TB cases never diagnosed

President of the Nigeria Thoracic Society (NTS), Prof Etete Peters has said about one in three people with TB are never diagnosed and this is a source for concern. “This means they will not be treated and they will continue to transmit the disease in the community,”  he said.  He called for concerted and collaborative […]

President of the Nigeria Thoracic Society (NTS), Prof Etete Peters has said about one in three people with TB are never diagnosed and this is a source for concern.
“This means they will not be treated and they will continue to transmit the disease in the community,”  he said.
 He called for concerted and collaborative measures against the scourge saying tuberculosis is the single commonest infectious disease worldwide with an estimated 9 million cases and 1.5million deaths annually while a third of the world’s population is infected with mycobacterium tuberculosis with new infection every second.
Peters said that of the estimated 9 million cases worldwide in 2013, only 5.7 million were reported to various national TB programme.
 According to him, this leaves over three million people with TB whose diagnosis were missed, or were not reported, and they constitute the pool for new infections and diseases especially in Nigeria.
He said: “NTS is ready to collaborate with the government in looking for innovative control approaches that would reduce the ravaging effect of the disease, ensuring a TB free country and work force.”