The Osun State Government has urged residents of the state who are manifesting symptoms of tuberculosis to present themselves for screening to prevent death from the disease.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr Isiaka Adekunle, stated this on Tuesday while speaking during an awareness campaign and free screening held in Osogbo, the state capital, to mark this year’s World Tuberculosis Day.
The awareness campaign, organised by the ministry in conjunction with Damien Foundation, had health practitioners and volunteers in attendance.
It commenced at Freedom Park, Osogbo, and moved through the Igbona area, where officials engaged residents on the importance of early detection of tuberculosis cases.
The walk later terminated at the Ayetoro area, where interested residents underwent free tuberculosis screening.
Speaking during the awareness campaign, the Permanent Secretary, represented by the Director of Public Health, Osun State Ministry of Health, Dr Hakeem Bello, stated the readiness of the Governor Ademola Adeleke’s administration to intensify screening and ensure effective management of detected cases.
On government efforts to curb the spread of the disease in the state, Adekunle said, “The truth is this: we have TB in our communities. The more we screen, the more patients we have. If we are not screening, we will just pretend as if we don’t have any cases of TB, but we have to face reality, and the more cases we have, the better for the state.
“We can now bring them into treatment and once we can treat them, they cannot spread it again. That means that eventually, we will reach epidemic precaution and the cases will be coming down gradually. We need to screen first to get more patients to be treated for TB.
“The Osun State Government, through the Ministry of Health, has created an enabling environment. Our staff are doing okay. Although we have supporting partners, Osun State is taking the leading role. We are now coming into the community. So I believe we are doing what we are supposed to do as a state.”
Dispelling myths about the disease, the medical practitioner implored residents not to see tuberculosis as a spiritual affliction or attack, and advised them to present those with persistent cough, weight loss, and prolonged fever for screening.
He said, “There is nothing like TB being a form of spiritual affliction. We have been having TB before, we have TB now, and the only thing we can do is just to get our people with TB and treat them.
“There is nothing spiritual there. TB is an infectious disease and it can affect almost every part of the body. So we need to be very careful.
“TB can affect the reproductive organs. We should forget the idea that TB is a spiritual affliction, and that is the reason we are trying to create more awareness among our people so that they can know more about TB.”
Presenting Osun State data on the disease in the last quarter of 2025, the Programme Manager in the Osun State Ministry of Health in charge of Tuberculosis, Leprosy, and Buruli Ulcer Control, Dr Rotimi Oladele, said between September and December 2025, the state recorded 4,000 new cases of tuberculosis.
Oladele, who said the state was recording success in its fight to curb the spread of tuberculosis, emphasised the importance of early detection to prevent death and the spread of the disease.
The PUNCH reports that World Tuberculosis Day, observed on March 24 each year, is designed to build public awareness about the global epidemic of tuberculosis and efforts to eliminate the disease.
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