By : Nkechi Onyedika-Ugoeze, Ijeoma Nwanosike
As countries mark World Tuberculosis (TB) Day today, experts have warned that a high funding gap, low awareness, malnutrition, stigma and discrimination are threatening disease control gains and the sustainability of Nigeria’s TB response.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), while Nigeria achieved a 63 per cent reduction in TB deaths between 2015 and 2024, incidence rates showed no overall decline, suggesting ongoing community transmission despite improved treatment outcomes.
The country recorded an estimated 510,000 new TB cases in 2024, translating to an incidence rate of 219 per 100,000 population.
TB, an airborne disease caused by a germ known as Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is the leading infectious killer disease in the world and among the top 10 causes of death globally.
Despite being both preventable and curable, about 1.9 billion people, representing one-quarter of the world’s population, carry the causative organism in a dormant state, according to the WHO.
Data from the Knowledge Network for Disease Control and Vigilance (KNCV) Nigeria shows that the country has a high triple burden of TB, drug-resistant TB (DR-TB), and HIV-associated TB, and is among the 10 countries with the highest number of missing TB cases globally.
The data further revealed that Nigeria ranks first in TB burden in Africa and sixth globally, accounting for about 4.6 per cent of the global TB burden. An estimated 15 Nigerians die every hour from TB, equivalent to about 360 deaths daily, 10,417 monthly and 125,000 yearly.
The country also faces a severe tuberculosis funding gap, with approximately 73 per cent of its 2025 national TB budget remaining unfunded.
Information obtained from the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare showed that while the country required about $405 million to deliver comprehensive TB treatment and services in 2024, only 27 per cent of the amount was realised, leaving a 73 per cent funding gap.
Already, the Federal Government has earmarked about N73.4 billion for the procurement of TB drugs and other medical commodities to prevent a potential stock-out across the country.
She explained: “For now, we don’t have a problem with drugs. Drugs are very much available. We only had serious drug scarcity after the U.S. government announced an aid cut. A lot of people who were newly diagnosed with TB could not get drugs for many weeks, and that increased the spread of TB. But right now, we have enough medication.”
Onuoha, however, said that the centre does not have a functional X-ray machine and often refers patients to Nyanya General Hospital and other imaging facilities. She appealed to the government to provide an X-ray machine to improve patient access.
A patient who accessed care at the TB DOT centre at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) said that both treatment and tests remain free at the centre.
The source, who commended the current TB programme at the centre, said diagnosis followed comprehensive testing and treatment commenced immediately, but expressed concern about the long-term sustainability of TB programmes, especially in light of funding shortfalls from donor countries.
For Justice Ejiga, a TB survivor, stigma and discrimination remain serious barriers to care, often preventing individuals from seeking diagnosis, adhering to treatment, and returning to normal life.
Narrating his experience, Ejiga said he lost his banking job after returning from four months of TB treatment. He argued that no one should be stigmatised for a disease that is treatable and curable, especially after completing treatment.
He recalled that he began experiencing persistent cough, fever and night sweats, and later noticed blood in his sputum. After testing positive for TB, he underwent four months of treatment before being discharged to continue care at home.
Ejiga said the experience took a heavy toll on his livelihood. “I suffered stigmatisation, and it was a deadly blow,” he said, explaining that he was unable to return to his banking job after treatment. According to him, his employer expressed concerns that other staff might believe they contracted the disease from him.
He maintained that such fears are unfounded, stressing that patients on treatment quickly become non-infectious and that those who have completed treatment cannot transmit the disease.
“No one deserves to die. No one deserves to be stigmatised for a disease that is curable and treatable,” he said, warning that stigma discourages people from seeking testing and treatment, thereby worsening the spread of TB.
According to the WHO, stigma and discrimination constitute a major, if not the most significant, barrier to ending the TB epidemic.
Stakeholders warn that ending stigma will facilitate early diagnosis, encourage more people to seek treatment, improve medication adherence, and reduce transmission within communities.
In an interview, Acting Board Chair of Stop TB Nigeria, Queen Ogbuji-Ladipo, said Nigeria remains among the countries with the highest TB burden globally. She emphasised the need for increased domestic resource mobilisation and sustained budgetary support for TB response.
The board chair noted that the Tuberculosis Anti-Discrimination Bill 2025 has passed first reading at the House of Representatives, adding that it seeks to hold accountable those who stigmatise people living with TB.
She explained that the mandate of the Stop TB Partnership includes high-level advocacy for domestic resource mobilisation to support government efforts to control TB to a level where it is no longer of public health significance.
Ogbuji-Ladipo added that progress has been made in the national response. She noted that the First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, donated N2 billion to support TB control activities, and that the funds have been used to procure diagnostic tools, which have been distributed across the 36 states and the FCT...(The Guardian)
