The Director and National Coordinator, National Tuberculosis, Leprosy and Buruli Ulcer Control Programme (NTBLCP), Dr. Chukwuma Anyaike, has said that early diagnosis and treatment is the sure way of cutting the chain of transmission of tuberculosis (TB) in the country.

To this end, the NTBLCP, Breakthrough Action and other partners have flagged-off the National TB Testing Week, with the theme: “Check Am O.”

Speaking at a medical outreach in Gishiri community, an urban slum in the heart of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Anyaike lamented that “Nigeria ranks sixth among the 30 high-burden countries in the world and first in Africa in terms of the number of people with TB,” adding that the TB testing week was a strategy towards finding the missing cases of TB in the country.

He said: “Explorative research has shown that the major issue is low TB case finding for both adults and children due to low awareness. NTBLCP and partners have made concerted efforts to change the tuberculosis narrative in Nigeria from and high burdened country in Africa and globally.

“These efforts are supported with increased access to community-level TB testing through intensive community outreach conducted in all the states of the federation during the period. This contributes to TB case finding in Nigeria. Every undiagnosed and untreated cases can infect 15 people within a year”.

Also speaking, the Deputy Project Director, Breakthrough Action Nigeria, Bolatito Ayenigba said: “Nigeria has designated the first week of August a National TB Testing Week for the country because “finding the missing TB cases is a major challenge in Nigeria.”

She said the team was offering integrated services, including the COVID-19, TB/HIV testing and vaccination