BAUCHI — The Benue state programme manager, Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control, Dr. Igbabul Ishember says no fewer than 41,000 people in Benue State are at the risk of being infected by Tuberculosis (TB) at the end of 2021.
Ishember, who is also the Deputy Director, Public Health, in the Ministry of Health and Human Services, in an interview said, from January to date only 4,135 TB patients representing 28 percent have been identified and placed on treatment.
“Based on the population of the state, which according to the last census was about 6.8 million, it is estimated that 219 out of every 100,000 persons stand a risk of being infected with TB this year.
“We are now at the fourth quarter of the year, and so far we are able to identify only 4,135 TB cases which are currently on treatment, so if you want to estimate the risk of infection in the population, it is estimated that 1 untreated TB case is capable of infecting10 to 15 persons.
“If you do rough arithmetic and multiply 4,135 by the lowest number which is 10, you will have 41,350 persons who are at risk of being infected with TB by the few people we have identified so far.
“It is expected that based on the state population it is expected that at the end of the year, we will have close to 15,000 TB patients for the year 2021.”
“We have just finished the 3rd quarter of the year and we are now in the fourth quarter and if at this particular time we are only able to identify only 28 per cent and we have just two months to end the year, then we can say the number of cases detected is far lower than what is estimated for our population,” he said.
- Pollution: Ogun State Government Clamp Down On Three Churches - April 24, 2024
- Troops Rescues 44 Women, and Children In Timbuktu Triangle - April 24, 2024
- Sokoto State: 15 District Heads Fired - April 24, 2024
