The North West Zonal Coordinator for Nigeria’s tuberculosis programme, Mr. Isiah Danssaallah, has issued a stark warning that the country’s fight against tuberculosis (TB) has reached a “decisive and defining moment,” as chronic underfunding threatens to dismantle years of progress.
Speaking in Kaduna on Tuesday to commemorate this year’s World Tuberculosis Day, Danssaallah praised the Federal Government for maintaining policy direction but warned that the era of relying on international goodwill is over.
According to the coordinator, the most significant barrier to eradicating TB in Nigeria is no longer a lack of strategy, but a lack of liquid cash. He revealed that over 70 percent of the national TB funding gap remains unmet, leaving the healthcare system in a precarious state.
The situation is further complicated by a shift in the global political landscape. Danssaallah pointed out that policy changes tracing back to the Donald Trump administration triggered a cascade of reductions in global health financing—ripples that are now hitting Nigeria with full force in 2026.
“This means one thing: Nigeria must now take full financial responsibility for its TB response urgently,” Danssaallah stated. “Relying solely on donors for these critical components is no longer sustainable and increasingly unrealistic.”
As the year 2026 progresses, the North West Coordinator identified several “dangerous gaps” that are currently crippling state-level responses:
Danssaallah emphasized that delayed budget releases are not merely “abstract problems.” Instead, they are life-and-death hurdles that determine whether a patient is diagnosed, treated, or left to succumb to the disease.
The Coordinator directed a firm appeal to state governors, health commissioners, and State Houses of Assembly to move beyond rhetoric and provide measurable financial commitments. He urged the immediate allocation of dedicated budget lines for TB commodities to prevent a total system failure.
“The cost of inaction would be severe,” he warned. “Patients arriving at facilities may find no medicines, suspected cases could go undiagnosed… treatment interruptions would increase, drug-resistant TB would spread, and preventable deaths would rise.”
Without urgent domestic investment in 2026, the coordinator fears that Nigeria risks a resurgence of TB that could overwhelm the existing public health infrastructure.
