Non-governmental organization, Policy Alert, and four other organisations have commenced implementation of a project aimed at enhanced and sustainable service delivery, through increased domestic investment, for Tuberculosis (TB) interventions in five states – Anambra, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Delta and Imo.
The project will be implemented by the Fund TB Cluster comprising of Policy Alert, Gender Perspective and Social Development Center (GPSDC), Center for Healthworks, Development and Research Initiative (CHEDRES), Concern for Women and Youth Empowerment (COWOYEM), and Initiative for the Prevention and Control of Diseases (IPCD), is supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through the Palladium Group.
In a statement issued Tuesday on behalf of the Fund TB Cluster, Policy Alert’s Executive Director, Tijah Bolton-Akpan, said “the FundTB Project is designed to influence several policy improvements in domestic investment for TB in the focal states, such as the creation of TB budget lines, improving releases of allocated TB funds in the approved budgets, extending coverage of state health insurance to TB patients in health insurance scheme, and private sector engagement to enhance TB services through collaborative initiatives, resource support, and knowledge-sharing.”
The project, which will be implemented over the next six months, will employ research, campaigning, capacity building, and policy influencing.
Bolton-Akpan said: “This project became necessary as a result of the alarming statistics on TB coming out of Nigeria. The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that 156,000 Nigerians died of TB out of 452,000 confirmed cases in 2020. Nigeria also accounted for 4.6 percent of the global tuberculosis burden and ranked top in TB prevalence in Africa in 2022.
“Reversing this ugly status quo requires massive investment in health by the federal government and sub-nationals, with a specific focus on TB financing.”
The organisation noted that while the Covid19 pandemic “spurred increased budgetary allocation for the health sector with some states seeing as high as a 140% increase in the health budget, there has not been a corresponding increase in TB allocations across states, and even worse, the paltry allocation for TB services has not been matched by releases.
“Underfunding of TB programs hinders the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and public awareness campaigns essential to combating the highly infectious and potentially fatal disease comprehensively.
“The low allocations and no releases for TB have shifted the burden for TB financing to donors and international partners, while governments at federal and state levels fund less than 10 percent of current interventions.
“This scenario has left a funding gap of 70 percent hampering efforts to stem the tide of prevalence and to provide care for those infected. It is unsustainable to leave the burden of TB financing for donors and development partners, necessitating a different approach to public financial management to free up more resources to close the funding gap,” Bolton-Akpan said.
According to the statement, a unique dimension of the project is that it will also work with the private sector to attract funding for improved TB services.
“The private sector provides an additional layer of funding for TB services as part of their corporate social responsibilities and brand reinforcement strategies, which makes for impact and sustainability. Private sector engagement is central, as they can donate equipment, renovate or build TB facilities, provide needed nutritional support to TB patients, support the development of TB-responsive innovations, and donate medications to health facilities to improve current TB intervention efforts”, the statement added.
