Tuberculosis kills 4000 daily- Yakasai
The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) said the threat of Tuberculosis is still real in Nigeria and other countries of the world, disclosing that 4000 people lose their lives daily to tuberculosis. President of PSN, Pharm. Ahmed I. Yakasai stressed in a statement to commemorate the World Tuberculosis Day on March 24 that Tuberculosis (TB) is one […]
A nurse prepares an injection of the influenza vaccine at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts January 10, 2013. With flu cases in this city up tenfold from last year, the mayor of Boston declared a public health emergency January 9 as authorities around the United States scrambled to cope with a rising number of […]
The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) said the threat of Tuberculosis is still real in Nigeria and other countries of the world, disclosing that 4000 people lose their lives daily to tuberculosis.
President of PSN, Pharm. Ahmed I. Yakasai stressed in a statement to commemorate the World Tuberculosis Day on March 24 that Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide according to World Health Organization (WHO).
The World Tuberculosis Day is designed to create public awareness that tuberculosis today remains an epidemic in much of the world, causing the deaths of nearly one-and-a-half million people each year, mostly in developing countries.
It commemorates the day in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch announced that he had discovered the cause of tuberculosis, the TB bacillus at the time TB was raging through Europe and the Americas, causing the death of one out of every seven people.
The theme of World TB Day 2017 is "Unite to End TB.
According to Yakasai, government should make TB care accessible to the people as the disease remains endemic.
He noted that in 2015, 10.4 million people fell ill with TB and 1.8 million died from the disease (including 0.4 million among people with HIV), adding that over 95% of TB deaths occur in low and middle-income countries. Six countries account for 60% of the total, with India leading the count, followed by Indonesia, China, Nigeria, Pakistan and South Africa.
He said, "In 2015, 35% of HIV deaths were due to TB. Globally in 2015, an estimated 480 000 people developed multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB). TB incidence has fallen by an average of 1.5% per year since 2000. This needs to accelerate to a 4–5% annual decline to reach the 2020 milestones of the "End TB Strategy". An estimated 49 million lives were saved through TB diagnosis and treatment between 2000 and 2015. Ending the TB epidemic by 2030 is among the health targets of the newly adopted Sustainable Development Goals
"The WHO "End TB Strategy", adopted by the World Health Assembly in May 2014, is a blueprint for countries to end the TB epidemic by driving down TB deaths, incidence and eliminating catastrophic costs.
"It outlines global impact targets to reduce TB deaths by 90%, to cut new cases by 80% between 2015 and 2030, and to ensure that no family is burdened with catastrophic costs due to TB.
"Ending the TB epidemic by 2030 is among the health targets of the newly adopted Sustainable Development Goals. WHO has gone one step further and set a 2035 target of 95% reduction in deaths and a 90% decline in TB incidence – similar to current levels in low TB incidence countries today."
According to the PSN President, WHO strategy outlines three pillars including integrated patient-centred care and prevention; bold policies and supportive systems and intensified research and innovation.
He added, "The success of the Strategy will depend on countries respecting the following 4 key principles as they implement the interventions outlined in each pillar: government stewardship and accountability, with monitoring and evaluation; strong coalition with civil society organizations and communities; protection and promotion of human rights, ethics and equity and adaptation of the strategy and targets at country level, with global collaboration.
"The reality is tuberculosis is still with us and many people are dying daily because of it. One third of people with tuberculosis (TB) missed out on quality care in 2015.
"Let’s make TB care accessible to all. We must support World Health Organization, Governments, and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) to end TB in our world. We must support TB patient in ending the death, stigma and difficulties associated with TB.
We must collectively help them increase their access to quality care. Together we CAN stop TB."