The Paediatric Association of Nigeria (PAN) joins the global health community in commemorating World Tuberculosis (TB) Day 2025, with the theme “Yes! We Can End TB: Commit, invest, and deliver.” This day serves as a critical reminder of the urgent need to accelerate efforts toward TB elimination, particularly among children, who remain a vulnerable and often overlooked population in the fight against this disease.
 
Nigeria has the highest TB burden in Africa and the sixth highest in the world. Childhood TB cases in Nigeria was the fifth highest in the world in 2023. An estimated 59,000 children under 15 years develop TB, yet only 36,197 cases are notified, reflecting a treatment coverage gap of 39%. Additionally, 22,000 childhood TB cases were missed, highlighting the urgent need for improved case detection and linkage to treatment.
 
Generally, low awareness and stigmatization continue to hinder early diagnosis and treatment of TB especially in children. To combat this, new evidence-based interventions to improve childhood TB diagnosis and care have been introduced. These include; WHO treatment decision algorithms, shorter TB treatment regimens (four months for non-severe TB), shorter TB preventive courses, free chest X-rays and transport vouchers, active case finding with focus on high-risk populations, use of GeneXpert MTB/RIF as the first-line diagnostic test, use of stool samples to diagnose TB in younger children and mandatory HIV testing for all children presumed to have TB.
 
PAN therefore calls on all healthcare workers and stakeholders to leverage these interventions for enhanced case detection and management, improve community awareness, and increase access to TB services for children. We call on the Government and development partners to sustain funding, accelerate research for child friendly formulations and support paediatric TB programs.

#TogetherYesWeCanEndTB
#Commit!Invest!Deliver!
#WeFitDoAm!
#paediatricassociationofnigeria