Adamawa records 23 cases of drug resistance TB in 3 months – Manager

No fewer than 23 cases of drug resistance Tuberculosis (TB) has been recorded in Adamawa from January to date. The state Programme Manager for TB and Leprosy Control, Dr Boniface Gundiri, disclosed this known on Monday in Yola at a ceremony to commemorate World TB Day. Gundiri said 60 drug resistance cases were recorded among […]

No fewer than 23 cases of drug resistance Tuberculosis (TB) has been recorded in Adamawa from January to date.

The state Programme Manager for TB and Leprosy Control, Dr Boniface Gundiri, disclosed this known on Monday in Yola at a ceremony to commemorate World TB Day.

Gundiri said 60 drug resistance cases were recorded among the total cases of 2,756 TB cases recorded last year.

He raised concern over the rising cases of drug resistance TB in the state, calling for additional funding and personnel to ensure more effective fight against the epidemic.

The manager lauded partners involved in the crusade, pointing out that there is increase in the cases finding from last year which informed the opening of a treatment centre at the Yola Federal Medical Centre to handle patients with drug resistance TB.

He listed some the challenges facing the programme in Adamawa as lack of funding and inadequate personnel to track patients.

“Part of our challenges are funding and the issue of motivation for TB supervisors who at times use their money to look for patients,” Gundiri said.

The state Director, Public Health, Ministry of Health, Dr Bwalki Dili, said this year’s theme: “It is Time’’ was a wakeup call for everyone to sit up towards the target of eradicating TB by 2030.

Dili stressed the need for more enlightenment for the public, particularly those with symptoms of coughing for two weeks or more to visit the nearest testing centres to verify.

Also speaking, the representative of Jannah Health Foundation (JHF), a leading partnering NGO, Dr Stephen John, said the foundation has 102 TB supervisors across the state.

John reiterated the commitment of the NGO to continue to partner with the state and organisations involved in the fight against TB and other epidemic in the state.

The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Fatima Atiku, lauded health workers involved in the fight against TB and assured them of support.

Atiku said the World TB Day commemoration was the first in the state by the administration to show its renewed commitment to the fight against the scourge.

Atiku who noted the high level of milk production in the state, cautioned the public, particularly nomads, against the consumption of unpasteurised milk which, she noted, was one of the major causes of TB. (NAN)