Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed commitment to end the tuberculosis epidemic ravaging the country as the Global Fund announced a three-year grant of 143 million dollars to Nigeria starting from next year.
The Global Fund further explained that Nigeria will be receiving the largest support to tackle tuberculosis, including two other diseases – malaria and HIV.
Buhari who expressed the commitment in his address at the high-level roundtable meeting of Africa Ministers of Health during the 33rd virtual Board Meeting of the Stop TB partnership that brings together Ministers of Health and dignitaries from 11 African countries lamented what he calls needless loss of lives from TB which is treatable, saying his administration is committed to closing the gaps in TB case detection, and improving the health indices in the country.
Also speaking, Deputy Executive Director, Stop TB Partnership Secretariat Geneva, Suvanand Sahu, noted that a number of countries were not on track to meet the United Nations High-Level Meeting – the target of 2018 and 2022.
According to the organisers, the eleven African countries that will benefit from the grant are – Nigeria, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
