Aug.6,2024
By Christian Njoku, CALABAR
Mrs Felicia Akam, Deputy Programme Manager, Cross River’s Tuberculosis, Leprosy and Ulcer Control Programme says poor budgetary release is affecting the sustainability of tuberculosis care in the state.
Akam said this in an interview in Calabar on Tuesday on the sidelines of a meeting for Tuberculosis (TB) funding and control.
TB, a curable disease that affects the lungs, is caused by a type of bacteria, and spreads through the air when an infected person coughs, sneezes or spits.
According to WHO, Africa Region, 2024 Data, Nigeria has the highest burden of TB in Africa, and the disease has been having an adverse effect on people’s life in the country.
Akam said that although TB programme in Cross River had been largely donor-driven up until 2024, the state government had been assisting with facilities and manpower.
She said that it was important to sustain the supports that were coming from implementing partners.
“Every time the state programme presents its budget to the government, the release of funds to sustain the programme is a challenge.
“This has been a problem for funding partners too, it is also hampering case findings.
“In quarter one of 2024, we had about 1,666 cases, there was a drop in quarter two when we got 1,565 cases in all forms of TB notification,” she said.
Akam said that it was becoming hugely difficult to comb rural areas for effective case finding due to inadequate funding.
The programme officer further said that prompt release of counterpart funds and budgetary allocation would enable the programme to be more efficient.
“We need the support of the government to be able to close the gap in meeting the state’s target in TB care,” she said.
On his part, Mr Inyang Bassey, External Communication Manager, Lafarge Africa, said that the availability of fund for TB in Cross River was not the challenge.
“The challenge is rather the absence of sincerity of purpose and effective utilisation of funds by implementers of the programme.
“No responsible company will see a proposal to help in a particular health issue in a community it operated and turned it down,” he said.
Mr Imoh Isua-Ikoh, the Coordinator, Peace Point Development Foundation, said that many funding partners left Cross River because some partners not fulfil its part.
Isua-Ikoh also said that some implementing partners in the state were faced with exploitative demands from community stakeholders.