23rd March, 2018
The wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, has expressed her readiness to champion the fight against the spread of tuberculosis in Nigeria.
Buhari made the pledge on Thursday when she met with the delegation of Global Stop TB Partnership at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
She emphasised the need for regular testing and treatment for tuberculosis to reduce the spread of the disease in the country.
“We have to organise a National Workshop gathering all the Governors wives to make them fully aware that TB can be treated, TB can be cured and the testing and treatment is (are) free in Nigeria.
“(So they can) go back to their states and pass the information.’’
The wife of the president called on TB patients to always make themselves available for diagnosis and medication.
She appealed to Nigerians not to stigmatise TB patients.
In his remark, the Deputy Director of Global Stop TB Partnership, Geneva, Dr Suha Savunand, commended the efforts of Buhari in championing the advocacy against the spread of tuberculosis.
Savunand said his team was in the State House to express appreciation to Buhari for her continued support to end the disease in Nigeria.
According to him, the team is in Nigeria to commemorate the 2018 World Tuberculosis Day and to launch the Parliamentary TB Caucus in the country.
The group had appointed the wife of the President as the global Ambassador of Stop TB Partnership in Nigeria.
In another development, Buhari and the wife of the vice President, Mrs Dolapo Osinbajo, inaugurated “Cedarcrest Hospital’’ a private Hospital in Abuja, for public use.
She urged management of the Hospital to ensure that their services are affordable to the general public.
She commended the Hospital for providing world class equipment for orthopaedic services which was beneficial to her son, Yusuf Buhari.
The President’s son was treated in the hospital following his motor bike accident in December 2017.