1 week Ago By Philip Nyam
The House of Representatives Chairman, Committee on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Leprosy, and Malaria Control, Amobi Ogah , has assured Nigerians of decisive legislative action to combat tuberculosis (TB) , including increased funding and laws to protect patients’ rights. Ogah made this commitment on Wednesday at the Re-Launch of the Nigeria Parliamentary TB Caucus, where he pledged to mobilize Lawmakers to join the caucus and champion policies that enhance TB detection, treatment, and prevention. “Our role in providing legislative interventions and support to the response against TB in Nigeria is critical and cannot be overemphasized.
We must take advantage of our position and the population under our control to fight the scourge of TB,” Ogah said. He said that nearly 70% of Global Fund-supported countries are facing budget shortfalls for TB response, with 10 nations alone grappling with a $600 million deficit in 2025. Nigeria, he warned, must increase domestic resource mobilization, particularly since most African countries, including Nigeria, have yet to meet the Abuja Declaration target of allocating 15% of their national budgets to health.
Ogah also vowed that the caucus would push for laws protecting TB patients from stigma and discrimination while improving their access to quality healthcare. He commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for committing over ₦700 billion to Nigeria’s health system, including TB interventions, and praised First Lady Senator Oluremi Tinubu for her ₦1 billion donation to TB eradication efforts. He further called for swift action to hold the government accountable for its commitments, ensuring that TB services reach the most vulnerable and marginalized groups.
Reaffirming Nigeria’s commitment to the global goal of ending TB by 2030, Ogah urged his colleagues to intensify efforts, echoing the World TB Day 2025 theme: “Yes, We Can End TB – Commit, Invest, Deliver.” While declaring the relaunch open, Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas assured that the House would take bold legislative action and increase funding to combat tuberculosis (TB), which remains a major public health threat in Nigeria. Abbas described TB as a longstanding but often overlooked health crisis, stressing the need for urgent interventions to curb its devastating impact.
“Most of us started hearing about this scourge in our childhood, and after a while, it seemed forgotten, yet it remains one of the most deadly diseases affecting humanity today,” Abbas remarked. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Nigeria remains the seventh-highest TB-burdened country globally and second in Africa, with 361,000 new cases recorded in 2023, a 26% increase from the previous year. Worse still, 9% of these cases involved children, while 63,000 people living with HIV were co-infected with TB.
Despite past efforts, including the establishment of the National TB and Leprosy Control Programme in 1989 and Nigeria’s alignment with WHO’s global TB elimination strategies, the disease continues to spread rapidly. The Speaker emphasized the urgent need for stronger awareness campaigns, improved healthcare infrastructure, and legislative measures to bridge the treatment gap. Tajudeen reaffirmed that the 10th House of Representatives is committed to prioritizing health reforms.
He noted that the Parliament had already increased the national health budget in line with the Abuja Declaration, which recommends at least 15% of the national budget be allocated to healthcare. He added that the House had also proposed amendments to the National Health Act, increasing Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) funding from 1% to 2% of the Consolidated Revenue Fund to strengthen TB treatment and healthcare infrastructure. He said the House expanded access to primary healthcare in rural and underserved areas while pushing for a universal health insurance system to make healthcare more affordable, as well as encouraging research into tropical diseases, traditional medicine, vaccine development, and innovative TB treatment methods.
With these commitments, the House of Representatives aims to curb the spread of TB, improve access to treatment, and eliminate the disease in line with global health goals..
