In remarks to mark World TB Day at the centre, health minister Isaac Adewole said the target is to have one GeneXpert machine in each local government area.

“We are working to end TB by 2035,” he said. “As we fight the insurgency in the north east, we also fight TB.”

 

It comes amidst concern that only one in six cases of TB is detected, leaving the under five cases going undetected. The 2016 Global TB report found despite an incidence of TB in 322 per 100,000 persons, only 50 of those 322 were detected. “This rate varies from state to state with Sokoto state having the highest TB case notification rate of 127 per 100,000 for the year 2016,” said minister of state for health Osagie Ehanire.

 

Nigeria is considered to have the largest burden of TB in Africa and the fourth largest globally. Dr Aderonke Agbaje, association director for Global Fund programmes at IHVN, said the GeneXpert will help make TB diagnosis more accurate, specific and sensitive, compared to using regular microscopy.

 

The machine is capable of running four different sputum sample batches, each in around two hours. “It is automated. Unlike before when you collect the sample under the microscope. If the persons eyes are good, they’d see something else and say the person has TB; or they see TB and say the person doesn’t have TB,” said Agbaje.

 

“With this machine you are over 90% sure that that result is the true result. The microscope will only see mycobacterium bacilli [the organism that causes TB]. This one will tell you whether it is drug susceptible or drug resistant.”

 

Source:MWN