From: barnhart@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Mr. Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS:NIGERIA: TUBERCULOSIS CASES ON THE RISE AMONG THE POOR
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1992 02:04:02 GMT
Organization: Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A.

Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: NIGERIA: TUBERCULOSIS CASES ON THE RISE AMONG THE POOR


an inter press service feature

by ebunoluwa okusanya

jos, nigeria, nov 3 (ips) -- at least a quarter of a million
people, out of nigeria's population of 88.5 million, suffer from
tuberculosis, according to latest findings by health authorities
in the west african nation.

official figures show that in recent years the number of
patients has been swelling by an average of 25,000 per year. but
doctors maintain that the figure could be higher as hundreds of
cases, especially in the rural areas, go unreported.

''the government is worried about the trend'', says nigeria's
minister of health, olikoye ransome-kuti.

the government is working on a tuberculosis control
programme, involving all 589 local government areas of the
country in the battle against this infectious disease, the
minister says.

in each area where the disease is diagnosed as endemic, the
government will offer free treatment to 150 patients.

in preparation for a tuberculosis control strategy, nigeria's
federal health ministry will conduct a one-year pilot project in
kaduna, katsina, lagos and plateau states.

health clinics in these areas will receive anti-tuberculosis
drugs, laboratory equipment, reagents and the training of staff.

results obtained during the pilot period ''will be used to
plan resources for effective tuberculosis control programmes in
all other local governments in the country'', ransome-kuti says.

however, nigerian medical experts attribute the high
incidence rate of tuberculosis in the country to patients'
apathy to treatment.

''sometimes infected persons are not aware that they have
contracted the disease while some do not comply with the long
procedure of treatment'', bimbola majekodunmi, a medical doctor
at the infectious diseases hospital in lagos, told ips.

a report by the infectious diseases control department of the
ministry of health shows that only 24 percent of patients
complete the 12-month course of treatment.

some patients, the report says, have defaulted because of
lack of funds while others changed their addresses making
supervision by health workers impossible. (more/ips)


nigeria: tuberculosis (2)

''i have been unable to attend clinics persistently because i
cannot afford it'', says festus iyala, a tuberculosis patient at
the infectious diseases hospital in lagos.

''with the little money i collect from my apprenticeship, it
is pretty difficult for me to buy the drugs needed'', he adds.

but ''success in the chemotheraphy of tuberculosis depends on
the quality and duration of the theraphy not hospitalisation or
diet'', says korede alabi, a community physician in the western
state of ogun.

''relapses accruing after short-course chemotherapy in
tuberculosis are usually caused by organism which remain
sensitive to drugs used or other forms of non-compliance'',
alabi adds.

a member of nigeria's coordinating committee on tuberculosis,
alabi insists that a patient who does not attend clinic for
three months should be declared out of control and struck off
the register.

although the prevalence of tuberculosis in some sub-saharan
african countries has been associated with the rise in cases of
human immuno-deficiency virus (hiv, ransome-kuti says in nigeria
the disease is a cause of high mortality among the malnourished
and low-income groups.

nigeria's expanded programme on immunisation has kept the
under-fives safe from the disease which erupts among adults.

the committee plans to provide diagnostic services as near as
possible to where people live in order to ensure eradication of
the disease. (end/ips/eo/ro/ar/92)