Sokoto introduces house-to-house search for suspected tuberculosis cases

Sokoto State has introduced a house-to-house search for suspected tuberculosis cases in a bid to reduce the spread of the disease.

Bello Tambuwal, programme manager for tuberculosis and leprosy control in the state, said this on Tuesday while giving an update on the successes recorded by the programme.

According to a statement by Nura Maikwanci, spokesman of the state ministry of health, Tambuwal said the search is one of the innovative ways introduced to uncover suspected tuberculosis cases across all LGAs.

“Anyone coughing for more than two weeks is a suspect and for any suspected TB case, we have to thoroughly search for all his or her contacts,” he said.

Tambuwal added that the programme had initiated a system in which all children suspected to be infected with tuberculosis were picked from their villages and brought to the hospital for investigation.

“Many children were hitherto missing. So, we now do chest X-rays for these children to determine their health status,” he said.

“Ambulances are sent to bring suspected children to Sokoto. While in Sokoto, we provide free meals and we conduct free X-rays and take them back.

“If there is any detected case, we provide them with free drugs until the kids are fully treated. This is to ensure that children across the state are free from TB and other child-killer diseases.”

The programme manager said sequel to the strategy, no fewer than 700 cases of tuberculosis were detected across the state.

He said various successes had been recorded with 18,366 cases detected in 2021, which doubled the 9,267 diagnosed cases in 2020.

He also said no fewer than 4,880 patients are currently receiving tuberculosis treatment across the state.

He, however, noted that many suspected cases of coughing were not reported in hospitals, resulting in self-medication by the patients, which often resulted in deaths in homes and spiked community spread of the disease.

“People should cultivate the habit of going to hospitals before diseases are advanced and avoid self-medication of TB and other diseases,” he said.

“All tests for TB and treatment are free and it is curable.

“We have recorded 97 percent success rate in the treatment of patients, while the mortality rate is less than one percent.”