The Kaduna State Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme recorded 2,103 new cases of tuberculosis in the first quarter of 2021.

The Programme Manager, Dr. Abubakar Sadiq, disclosed this in an interview with the UGAMATV on Tuesday in Kaduna.

Sadiq said tuberculosis case detection had been on the increase from 4,404 in 2019 to 5,878 in 2020 and 2,103 new cases in the first quarter of 2021.

According to him, the figure represents an increase of 33 per cent compared to the 2019 number reported despite the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown challenges.

He added that “this case detection rate only represents 30 per cent of the state tuberculosis case detection target which means that more work needs to be done.”

The manager noted that the programme would engage medical healers, private chemists and traditional birth attendants in the identification of tuberculosis cases in the state.

He said that the state decided to involve various health practitioners because some people visited them for treatment first before going to the hospital.

“They are the first contact for some people in some communities. The people believe in this group of health personnel than going to any health facility.

“We are engaging them now so that they can assist us in our case identification by referring them to the hospital for Tuberculosis test,’’ he said.

Sadiq said that other strategies put in place to improve active case finding included target outreaches, house to house search and screening of all hospital attendees in secondary and tertiary health facilities.

According to him, the number of facilities providing TB services in the state has been scaled up from 43 per cent to 62 per cent coverage across the entire state.

“This, we will continue to support till every facility is providing TB services in the state.’’

He noted that the treatment rate for the state was excellent with about 94 per cent of the Tuberculosis cases diagnosed and managed successfully.

He called on residents to get tested and confirm if they have the disease, especially when they had a cough for more than two weeks, noting that the disease was curable.