Governor’s Wife Spearheads Campaign To Tackle TB Prevalence In Jigawa
By: Ahmed Aminu, Dutse
Jigawa state government and 27 local government councils are joining forces to fight the spread of Tuberculosis (TB) in children, wife of the state governor, Hajiya Hadiza Umar Namadi, has said.
Mrs Namadi made this known in a message to the flag off of the End-children 2025 Tuberculosis week, on Wednesday in Dutse.
The Syndicate reports that Jigawa state ranks 8th in the country of states with TB prevalence.
She called on private organisations and donor agencies to join the project, so as to end the worrisome TB statistics in the state.
Represented by Hajiya Aisha Aminu Usman, the governor’s wife said extra efforts were needed to prevent and control the disease.
“Tuberculosis is one of the deadliest infectious disease of public health concern, causing a lot of ill-health and even deaths among every age group of our population, especially the children,” Mrs Namadi added.
She expressed concern that Nigeria is bearing heavy burden, ranking sixth globally in TB prevalence and first in Africa.
“Unfortunately, Jigawa state ranks 8th among Nigerian’s states with highest TB burden,” she noted, and said that the launch of the campaign was to tackle the spread of the killer disease.
“All stakeholders should go to the nook and crannies in the state and report any suspicious outbreak of the disease.”
The governor’s wife said she is spearheading the campaign together with wives of the 27 local government chairmen to raise massive awareness in both rural and urban areas.
The Commissioner of Health, Dr. Abdullahi Muhammed Kainuwa, however, said the menace of TB in the state has been reduced drastically in the last two years.
The Team Lead, Jigawa State Tuberculosis Control Programme, Dr. Umar Rabiu said 400 children in Nigeria were affected by TB in 2024.
He appreciated the continuous support of the governor’s wife as the state TB Ambassador, in reducing the prevalence of the disease.
