By Isaac Olufemi Ojo
THE fight against Tuberculosis (TB) in Oyo State is currently facing a major setback as the state struggles with an acute shortage of testing reagents, sputum collection cups, and other essential consumables, raising fears of an uncontrolled spread of the disease.
The development, which has stalled diagnostic services across the state, was brought to the fore during an advocacy meeting held by the Primary Health Care and Health Management Centre (PriHEMAC), in collaboration with the Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (NEPHWAN), and ACOMIN at the Tuberculosis and Leprosy Division of the Oyo State Ministry of Health.
Speaking at the meeting, the Programmes Officer of the executing Organisation , PriHEMAC , Mrs. Folasade Akintola, while delivering her findings from the on going community lead monitoring (CLM) an entry project funded by Global fund, expressed deep concern over the lack of basic materials required for TB service delivery.
“At the service delivery points in our LGAs of implementation of the CLM project,We identified that there are no sputum cups to collect samples from clients, and there are no reagents to test for TB,” she stated.
The Executive Director, PriHEMAC, Dr Martins Ogundeji, noted that with over high number of cases recorded in the first quarter of 2026, the current inability to conduct tests in the month of May leaves the state in the dark regarding the current prevalence of the disease.
He particularly expressed fear over the potential rise in Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis (DR-TB), which poses a severe public health threat.
In his contribution, the State Coordinator of ACOMIN, Pastor Olusegun Adio, challenged the government to look beyond donor funding and explore indigenous solutions.
“Nigeria should take responsibility. It is high time we start harvesting indigenous funders and engaging corporate bodies to support health needs through their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). If partners do not supply, the government’s current efforts might not be enough to cover the gaps,” Adio stated.
He further urged the public to remain vigilant, emphasizing that TB is curable if drugs are taken correctly, while warning that defaulting on treatment could escalate the disease to Multiple Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis.
Responding to these concerns, Mr Oladimeji Busola ,the State TB Monitoring and Evaluating officer confirmed the crisis, admitting that it has become a significant challenge across the state.
He revealed that the state recorded 4,127 new TB cases between January and March 2026, but noted that diagnostic activities have been grounded since April due to the lack of consumables.
“It is a national issue. Presently, we do not have reagents in the laboratory. We have sputum samples that have been in our freezers for more than two weeks because we cannot process them,” the official admitted.
He further read a distress message from the state secretariat, confirming that the TB programme is currently ineffective due to the unavailability of test kits.
He, however, assured that the government is working to resolve the crisis and hopes that the necessary materials will be supplied before the end of the month.
The stakeholders at the meeting underscored the need for urgent government intervention to prevent the health crisis from spiraling out of control, as every day of inactivity increases the risk of community transmission.
