Folashade Adebayo A Consultant Community Physician, Dr. Ndidi Nwosu, has said that Lagos State has the highest percentage of people infected with tuberculosis. She added that Kano and Oyo states had the second and third highest cases, respectively. Nwosu said this on Thursday during the unveiling of the Gene Xpert machine presented by Chevron Nigeria […]
Folashade Adebayo
A Consultant Community Physician, Dr. Ndidi Nwosu, has said that Lagos State has the highest percentage of people infected with tuberculosis. She added that Kano and Oyo states had the second and third highest cases, respectively.
Nwosu said this on Thursday during the unveiling of the Gene Xpert machine presented by Chevron Nigeria Limited to St. Kizito Clinic, Lekki, Lagos.
Citing a 2012 National Survey of the Federal Ministry of Health, Nwosu said the country not only had a high TB and Multi-Drug resistance TB, burden, but also a high rate of TB and HIV co-infection.
According to the survey, there may be four million cases of TB by 2020, out of which 25 per cent will be with HIV co-infection and up to 200,000 of the number will be multi-drug resistance TB cases.
She added that the Gene Xpert machine would enable the clinic to “detect hard-to-diagnose TB especially in the presence of HIV infection. Some patients actually die of TB while we think it is HIV.’’
While speaking at the event, the Medical Director, St. Kizito Clinic, Dr. Alda Gemmani, commended the Lagos State Government and Chevron Nigeria Limited for partnering the clinic to treat TB patients in the country. She added that the clinic had treated 70,000 patients in its three facilities in Lagos with its 150 local and Italian staff and volunteers.
In his address, the General Manager, Policy Government and Public Affairs, CNL, Mr. Sam Otuonye, said that his organisation’s $5.3m Prevention-of-Mother-to-Child transmission of HIV helped to reduce the transmission of HIV in Bayelsa State. He added that CNL had built 26 chest clinics for the treatment of TB across the country.
“We are very pleased to have partnered St. Kizito over the years in Lagos State. This partnership led to the donation of a chest clinic to combat tuberculosis. CNL has also provided the centre with TB and malaria drugs, mobile X-Ray machine and Chemistry auto-analyser,’’ he said. Copyright PUNCH.
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Tanwa Ashiru
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