23rd March 2012 -- On the occasion of World Tuberculosis (TB) Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) in Nigeria donated TB laboratory diagnostic equipment and consumables worth $330,000 to improve TB care in Nigeria. The materials were procured with support of USAID.

The items donated included 65 binocular microscopes, 840,000 sputum containers and 540 boxes of laboratory consumable kits.

WTBD 2012 commemoration in Nigeria was held one day earlier, on 23 March,   to coincide with the commissioning of a 40-bed multi-drug resistant TB treatment center at Mainland Hospital, in Yaba, Lagos.

The WHO Representative in Nigeria, Dr. David Okello, in his speech on the occasion, said that WTBD commemoration was a worldwide event that aimed to raise public awareness of the dangers of TB, and the efforts being made to prevent and treat this disease.

He explained that on World TB Days, yearly awareness campaigns were conducted around a common theme, saying that the theme for WTBD 2012 was “Stop TB in our lifetime.

He stated   that the 2012 WTBD campaign lends immediacy to the mission to halt TB and underlines the fact that everyone can make it his or her responsibility to eliminate the deadly disease from the face of the earth in the foreseeable future.

People of different ages and living in different countries have the hope of stopping TB in their lifetimes:

Zero deaths from TB
Faster treatment
A quick, cheap, low-tech test
An effective vaccine
A world free of TB
He reiterated that the emergence of multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) risked reversing the gains already made in controlling TB in Nigeria and commended Government for its efforts to deal with the new challenge as evidenced by the commissioning of ward in a Lagos hospital for the treatment of MDR-TB cases.

He pledged that WHO would continue to partner with Government and other stakeholders in supporting innovative strategies “to Stop TB in our life time”.

In a speech read on his behalf by Health Minister Prof. C.O. Onyebuchi Chukwu, Nigerian President Good luck Jonathan reiterated his government’s commitment to support the control of TB in Nigeria.  He also commended the efforts and leadership of the United Nations in the global TB prevention and control efforts.

Receiving the items from the WHO Representative, the Minister of Health expressed sincere appreciation to the organization for its gesture and stated that Government would continue to work with all stakeholders in ensuring that the scourge of TB is stopped in our lifetime. The commissioning of the  40-bed  multi-drug resistant TB treatment center at the Mainland Hospital in  Yaba, Lagos  was witnessed by senior officials of the Lagos State Government including Health Commissioner Dr Jide Idris, representing the Governor of Lagos state; representatives of several bilateral and multilateral organizations; the United States Agency for International Development (USAID);  the United States Center  for Disease Control (CDC);  the German Leprosy Relief Association (GLRA);  the Leprosy Mission International and several other stakeholders working to support TB and  Leprosy control programmes.