Exevutive Director LWDI, Grace Maikudi
The Executive Director of LANGA Women and Development Initiative Grace Maikudi has stressed the need for government and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to come together to fight the scourge of Tuberculosis in Bauchi State .
She was speaking at a one day Sensitization Forum for CSOs on tuberculosis held at the WEIN conference hall, Bauchi on Tuesday.
Maikudi explained that the
Organization is among those selected by the USAID SCALE Project being implemented by Palladium as a member of the cluster organization for a Cluster known as TB Northern Nexus to carry out advocacy for Increasing TB Funding in Northern Nigeria covering six states in the region.
She added that the SCALE TB Northern Project, comprising six cluster organizations including NACWYCA in Nasarawa state, Health Development Alternative Initiative (HDAI), Kano state, LANGA Women Development Initiative (LWDI), Bauchi State, Community Awareness and Development Initiative (CADI), Katsina state, Kaneng Rwang Pam Foundation for Education Migration Awareness (KRP_FEMA) in Plateau State and Okaha Women and Children Development Organization (OWACDO) in Benue, seeks to address the severe challenges posed by tuberculosis (TB) in Northern Nigeria.
The Executive Director added that the SCALE TB Northern Project addresses Nigeria’s persistent TB challenge by advocating for increased funding, releases and creation of a budget line.
“TB is preventable, but Nigeria still faces a daunting public health crisis, marked by 590,000 new cases and 350 daily deaths in 2023, compounded by funding shortages and stigma.”
The project she further stated aims to secure annual budget allocations with specific TB lines by 2025, ensuring 50% of funds are released for TB programs in Bauchi, Benue, Nasarawa, Katsina, Kano and Plateau States in 2024 stressing that, “Ultimately aiming to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3 by 2030.”
“We consider you as critical stakeholders in the health sector that’s why we want to seek areas of collaboration and enduring partnership.”
She however lamented that funding for the tuberculosis control has remained inadequate while many states do not even have budget line for TB adding that even where such exists, releases are grossly inadequate.
Maikudi therefore urged the CSOs to pull their resources together and see how to tackle the issue in order to reduce the scourge and at the end eradicate it in Bauchi state.
Also speaking, Chairman of Bauchi State Network of Civil Societies (BASNEC ), Jinjiri John stressed the importance of networking in order to achieve the set objectives of the project.
According to him, one organisation may find it extremely difficult to achieve an aim but team work is very important to achieving good and positive result.