The Kaduna State government recorded 32,297 cases of tuberculosis in 2023. It, however, reduced the risk of spreading the disease during the period.
The state commissioner for health, Umma Kaltume-Ahmed, disclosed the figure at a press briefing to mark the World Tuberculosis Day celebration yesterday in Kaduna.
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She said tuberculosis case detection in the state increased from 21,557 cases in 2022 to 32,297 in 2023. “This represents an increase of 49.8 percent compared to 2022. This case detection rate represents 159 percent of the state TB case detection target.”
The commissioner said the development showed a significant improvement in case finding compared to 53 percent obtained in 2022 and reflected the improved support the State TB Programme received from the state government and the development partners.
Kaltume-Ahmed said, “The 2024 World TB Day themed ‘Yes, We Can End TB’ with the slogan ‘No Gree For TB, Check Am O’ is a follow-up call to the commitment made by global leaders at the United Nations (UN) high-level meeting on TB in New York in the United States of America (USA) four years ago to end the TB epidemic by the year 2030.”
The commissioner, however noted that tuberculosis remains one of the world’s deadliest infectious killers.
“Each day, over 4,100 people lose their lives to TB, and close to 28,000 people fall ill with this preventable and curable disease.
“Global efforts to combat TB have saved an estimated 66 million lives since 2000. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has reversed years of progress made in the fight to end TB. For the first time in over a decade, TB deaths increased in 2020,” she said.