Health Minister, Professor Isaac Adewole has kicked off a new treatment regime and drugs for treating multi drug resistant Tuberculosis (TB) in Nigeria in a bid to end TB spread in the country.
Professor Adewole, who also commissioned a renovated multi drug resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB) ward, on Monday, at the Government Chest Hospital, Jericho, Ibadan, said the shorter MDR-TB treatment regimen would only be required to be used for nine to 11 months rather than 20 months as it was previously the practice.
The minister said MDR-TB is a major concern, adding that many of the cases had resulted from patients with TB not adhering to their medications, non availability of some TB drugs when required and its long treatment duration.
According to him, “despite all efforts to make sure we watch them taking the drugs, some of them will not take it; some also skip their medications. So MDR-TB has become an issue.
While assuring the new shorter treatment regimen will improve chances of achieving a TB cure, even with MDR-TB, Professor Adewole said there are now 15 centres in Nigeria where person’s with MDR-TB can be treated.
He added that more money is being invested into TB by his ministry so that its target to end the infection in the country could be achieved.
In his words, “we cannot cure all the ailments in Nigeria, but I want to assure you that TB is one of the top rated diseases. We will not only tackle TB head on, we will also tackle TB through HIV. HIV fuels TB and TB also fuels HIV.”
Professor Adewole declared that his ministry had declared 2017 as its year of accelerated TB case funding as part of its strategic plan to end the disease.
He said it was a concern that only one out of every six persons with the disease is currently detected, adding that a person with TB that is not treated pose danger to others in the community.
“They are going to infect many other people who do not even know of their TB status and therefore this effort will further help to refocus awareness on TB,” the minister said.
The minister saying that TB treatment was free in Nigeria, declared, “the more cases we find, the more successful we will be and then we will be able to deplete the undiagnosed cases of TB lurking around in the community.”
Dr Osman El Tayeb, Country Director Damien Foundation, stated that the shorter MDR-TB treatment regimen, already endorsed by WHO can achieve 89.7 cure rate compared with the current conventional regimen with cure rate not more than 60 to 65 per cent.
Earlier, Oyo State governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Olalekan Alli stated that the renovated TB ward had served over 150 patients, drawn from all over the country.
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