LAGOS – Prof. Innocent Ujah, the Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, said on Monday that treatment of Tuberculosis(TB) could be difficult with the intake of herbal medicine.
Ujah told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the eradication of Tuberculosis in the country was also a major challenge owing to late presentation of cases. “We have many compounding factors in Nigeria. First of all, when people know they have TB, instead of going to the hospital, they will go to herbal homes first, when they do not get any response, they will go to the prayer houses.
“ It is at the last resort, therefore, they do not avail themselves early enough and they may have taken all sorts of concoctions and medicines and obviously that will prove resistant.
“And they may be taking combinations of drugs that are totally unrelated that will make further treatment difficult.
“And that is actually one of the challenges we have, people not accessing health facilities on time.’’[eap_ad_2] Ujah urged infected persons to put away the stigma and utilise the free diagnoses and treatment being offered at the institution.
“Tuberculosis is curable, it’s preventable and it is at no cost. The Federal Government has made diagnosis and treatment free for every person who is affected with TB.
“However, at the Nigerian Institute of Medical research, we have our facilities to diagnose what we call Multi Drug Resistance (MDR) TB and people should come in to have themselves diagnosed and be treated.
“We have the second line drug for the treatment of Tuberculosis. So, it’s as easy as am saying so.
“Because, if you avoid going to herbal homes, if you avoid going to prayer houses where they will pray for you and you come in only very late, then obviously you will have challenges of effective treatment .
“So, there should be no shame or stigma any more, you go and then have it treated and then you are okay“.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said over two billion people in the world are infected with the Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
With over 190,000 people infected, Nigeria has the highest burden of tuberculosis in Africa and is the 10th most infected country in the world with over 84,263 new infections yearly and over 27,000 mortality rate. (NAN)[eap_ad_3]
