The Acting Board Chair of Stop TB Partnership Nigeria, Dr Queen Ogbuji-Ladipo, has urged the National Assembly to prioritise budget allocations to address the challenge of Tuberculosis (TB) in the country, especially due to the declining donor support for interventions.
Speaking at the Re-Launch of the Nigeria Parliamentary TB Caucus at the National Assembly, she lamented Nigeria’s alarming statistics, noting that the country remains the highest TB-burdened nation in Africa and sixth globally.
Ogbuji-Ladipo urged that the lawmakers should integrate TB services into broader healthcare policies, and enact legislation that protects vulnerable populations while supporting TB research, diagnosis, and treatment.
She pointed out that every seven minutes, a Nigerian loses their life to this preventable and curable disease, stressing the urgency of immediate action.
She said over the years, Stop TB Partnership Nigeria has played a pivotal role in advancing TB interventions across the country.
Additionally, she said, Stop TB Partnership Nigeria has partnered with the private sector to raise $50 million in matched funding for TB interventions, a move that has expanded access to life-saving treatments and diagnostics.
The organization has also procured and deployed modern diagnostic tools, ensuring faster and more efficient TB detection, particularly in underserved communities, she stated
Ogbuji-Ladipo said to further drive progress, Stop TB Partnership Nigeria has worked closely with Senator Oluremi Tinubu, Nigeria’s First Lady and Global Stop TB Champion, as well as the Wives of State Governors, to enhance political will and expand awareness campaigns at the grassroots level.
However, despite these gains, significant gaps remain in funding, policy implementation, and public awareness, necessitating stronger legislative intervention.
She said that with the United Nations’ target to end TB by 2030 fast approaching, lawmakers and health advocates agree that Nigeria must take bold steps to accelerate progress.
Ogbuji-Ladipo called on parliament to ensure that TB programs receive adequate funding, legislative support, and stronger oversight mechanisms to guarantee effective implementation.
Chairman of the House Committee on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Leprosy, and Malaria Control, Amobi Ogah, assured that the parliament will take decisive legislative actions to combat TB, including pushing for increased funding and enacting laws to protect patients’ rights,
Ogah emphasised that lawmakers must leverage their positions to strengthen Nigeria’s TB response.
He promised to mobilise parliamentarians to sign up for the caucus and champion policies that will 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 highlighted that nearly 70% of Global Fund-supported countries are facing budget shortfalls for TB response, with 10 nations alone facing 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.
To ensure that funding gaps do not cripple Nigeria’s fight against TB, Ogah urged Parliament to intensify advocacy and push for greater financial commitments from the government.
He also vowed that the caucus would work toward laws that protect TB patients from stigma and discrimination while improving their access to healthcare.
Ogah praised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for committing over ₦700 billion to Nigeria’s health system, including TB interventions, and commended 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 step up their efforts, echoing the World TB Day 2025 theme: “Yes, We Can End TB – Commit, Invest, Deliver.”
Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, said the House of Representatives will take bold legislative action and increase funding to combat tuberculosis (TB), a disease that continues to pose a major public health threat in the country.
Abbas described TB as a longstanding but often overlooked health crisis, stressing that urgent interventions are needed to curb its devastating impact.
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 alignment with WHO’s global TB elimination strategies, the disease continues to spread.
