As part of efforts to ensure that Tuberculosis is reduced in Nigeria, the federal government in collaboration with KNCV, USAID, and other development partners, have taken sensitization and screening to people in Wuse market, Abuja.
While speaking with journalists, Dr. Odume said: “What we are doing here in Wuse market is what we can call the ‘market storm’. Most TB day we try to create awareness throughout the community; Most times, we engage in a community outreaches. “Within the WOW truck, we first do a screening to ask the individual if they have basic symptoms of TB – coughing, night sweats, weight loss, etc. Once any of the symptoms is there, the individual is actually termed a presumptive TB, then he or she passes through the WOW truck to have an automated chest X-ray that will be able to profile those that are likely to have TB.
“Each year, we are supposed to detect about 490,000 TB case. However, in spite of all our activities, we are only able to detect about 120,000 TB cases. It means that there are still about 300,000 cases that are missing. Therefore, every person need to know what the early symptoms of TB are.