Groups sensitize students on causes, symptoms, treatment of TB

Stop TB Partnership Nigeria, in collaboration with Debriche Health Development Centre (DHDC), educated students at Government Secondary School Wuse, Zone 4, Abuja, about the causes, symptoms, and how to get treatment for tuberculosis over the weekend in an effort to halt the spread of the disease in the FCT (TB).

They also taught the children how to avoid stigma and discrimination towards persons with tuberculosis (TB), as well as the fact that the disease is preventable, treatable, and treatment is available for free in all parts of Nigeria.

The public awareness campaign was one of the events commemorating World Tuberculosis Day in 2022.

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It will be recalled that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) recently issued a warning about the rising instances of tuberculosis among Nigerian pupils in primary and secondary schools.

Deborah Ogwuche-Ikeh, the Executive Director of the DHDC, responded to our inquiries by saying that the purpose of the education program was to increase TB case discovery in Nigeria.

“We’re attempting to scale TB case finding,” she says, “by giving them information that they can share with their friends and family so that we can get more individuals reporting to the health facility and getting tested for TB.”

“We are here to sensitize the students about TB, the hazards of TB, indications and symptoms of TB, and how it is spread,” Deborah Ogwuche-Ikeh added.

“We also enlighten them about the services accessible to those with tuberculosis.”

“Another element of the sensitization is to educate them about the social difficulties that people with tuberculosis face. Also, why hasn’t TB been eradicated in Nigeria? What are the contributing factors?

“Stigma and discrimination are one of the topics we discuss with kids.” We also try to explain to them that once someone is on treatment, they are no longer able to spread the sickness.

“Reducing stigma and discrimination is another important aspect of this awareness and sensitization effort. Children are catalysts for change. They will be tomorrow’s leaders. A child will take whatever you say and run with it. They’ll want to tell everyone they know about it. As a result, we’re attempting to use this platform to spread the word. We just aim to reduce TB-related mortality and incidence in Nigeria.”

“We visited multiple schools and we do not want to stop until we achieve the objective of abolishing TB by 2030,” she said, adding that her organization had collaborated with Stop TB Partnership Nigeria to sensitize schools across Nigeria since 2019.

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“I learned that if someone is having signs of TB, he may phone them with their numbers 3340 anywhere in the country and they will come and pick you up and treat you,” an SS 1 student, Zilabean Abdullahi, told our correspondent about what he learned during the sensitization campaign.

“There is no charge for the procedure.” You won’t be able to utilize your money to pay for the treatment until you’ve recovered. With the knowledge I now have, I can educate people on how to avoid contracting tuberculosis.”