The Chairman, the House of Representatives Committee on AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, Hon Amobi Godwin-Ogah has said that the House of Representatives would enact a law to prohibit Stigma and discrimination against Tuberculosis patients in Nigeria.
He said this in Lagos at the Tuberculosis Law Retreat organized by the Stop TB Partnership and Lawyers Alert and attended by members of the National Assembly, officials of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, national and international experts, and people affected by TB.
The lawmakers and stakeholders had dialogue on strengthening the legal framework governing tuberculosis (TB).
Tuberculosis is one of the deadly diseases causing unwarranted and untimely death across the world and Nigeria has the highest TB burden in Africa as the country contributes 19 percent of the TB burden in the continent and ranked 6th among the high-burden countries globally.
The President of Lawyers Alert, a nonprofit Human rights organisation in Nigeria, said the enactment of a law prohibiting stigmatisation and discrimination against TB patients would prevent the further spread of the disease in the country.