COWOYEM Advocates For Sustainability In TB Treatment

By Norbert Fidelis

Concern For Women And Youth Empowerment Int”l (COWOYEM), in conjunction with SCALE Palladium ,had a one day roundtable discussion at Orchid Hotel , Asaba, with stakeholders , on how to seek proper funding and fight the scourge of TB in Delta State. The meeting drew stakeholders from the Government (MDA) Media, OGP and the Private Sector.

Delivering her opening remark, the Executive Director of COWOYEM, Mrs. Tessy Enahoro welcomed and also thanked everybody for coming saying the meeting is on how to brainstorm and seek better funding for the sustainability of Tuberculosis treatment in the State. She said her organization wants to collaborate with policy makers and other relevant institutions in the State to achieve the goal. The COWOYEM CEO added that presently, only international donors are funding the treatment of TB in the State ,which is not good enough, hence the stakeholders meeting .

Also speaking, the Programme Officer Of the State Min. Of Health On TB, Dr. Mercy , said TB is an air borne disease that is transmitted through, sneezing , droplets or cough from an infected person, adding that pulomonary TB is the most infectious and only those suffering from it can spread the disease.

Dr. Mercy however stated that , the disease is not a poor man’s disease as widely believed by people , as a rich mans driver or housemaid can easily transmit it to his or her host. She said those who are at risk of contacting TB are, people in crowded places, those taking care of TB patients, those who are in IDP camps and those who are the active population. Others include, those who have weak immune system and those who have diseases such as diabetes , or AIDS are at high risk of contacting the disease because of their weak immune system

Finally, she said the State has no budget for TB programmes and that the facilities they have are grossly inadequate, stating that the TB detector machine is not available in every Local Govt. and trearment is usually impeded because of lack of facilities. Dr. Mercy also stated that , the State has a total of 15,8236 TB cases out of which 2,372 are children , adding that every undetected or untreated TB case is capable of infecting 10 to 15 persons.

Meanwhile , a representative of Policy Alert , which is the anchor organization for the programme , Mr. Koko Udoh has urged all stakeholders to team up and get better funding opportunities for the sustainability of TB in the State, asserting that they should map out an action plan to achieve the goal.. He therefore urged the media and CSOs to promote the message through more write ups and Radio jingles as well as increased sensitization, workshops and advocacy visits.

At the end of the meeting, a Technical Working Group was inaugurated, drawn from all the stakeholders involved , to see to the implemention and actualisation of the project.

The project is a pilot project being implemented in five States namely, Delta, Anambra, Akwa Ibom Imo and Cross River. The objective of the workshop is to seek proper funding and unlock funding opportunities for the sustainability of Tuberculosis, through stakeholders collaboration and it is sponsored by United States Agency For International Development (USAID) .with COWOYEM as the implementing partner