Okenyi Kenechi
The National Professional Officer of World Health Organisation (WHO) in Nigeria, Dr. Michael Jose, has decried the alleged sale of free Tuberculosis (TB) drugs to TB patients in Rivers.
Jose who raised the concern in an interview with reporters in Port Harcourt on Thursday said it was inhuman on the part of the persons involved in the act.
The concern of the WHO official is at the heels of reported cases of sales of the free drugs to patients in the state.
He said that TB drugs were donated by the organisation and were meant to be given free to the patients.
According to him, it is wicked and callous for anybody charged with the responsibility to dispense the drugs to now sell them for his/her own selfish gain.
He said: `there were about 13, 000 missing TB patients in Rivers in 2017 alone.
“In the face of the sale of the drugs, those that could not afford the payment simply went home and may not have come back to the healthcare centres.
“With such patients not treated, the air borne disease will continue to spread in their communities.
“I want to appeal to the culprits to stop the practice. Does it mean that we are no longer our brothers’ keepers?”
Jose said that TB was not an economic and financial setback to only the families of infected persons, but to the entire nation.
“Health is wealth and those infected cannot be productive. Since their productivity is zero, they cannot contribute to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP),’’ he explained.
He advised the citizens to always go for TB test when they experienced continuous coughing for two weeks, night sweating and body weakness, among other signs.
The WHO official advised individuals and communities in the state to report infected persons to the healthcare centres or relevant authorities to curtail the spread of the disease.
It will be recalled that the alleged sale of the free drugs was reported during the last quarter of the 2017 stakeholders meeting on TB, organised by Rivers Ministry of Health.
The ministry had promised to investigate the allegation and sanction the culprits.
