Remi Tinubu commissions TB diagnostic machines to boost detection

Wife of the President, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has commissioned new Tuberculosis (TB) Molecular Diagnostic Machines designed to boost rapid TB detection across the country.

Nigeria has the highest TB prevalence in Africa, and about 350,000 new TB cases are detected annually in the country.
The new TB diagnostic machines have the capacity to detect and make available the result of the test in less than 30 minutes.

To this end, the First Lady has called on stakeholders to intensify efforts to mobilise domestic resources to ensure that Nigeria ends tuberculosis by 2030.

Speaking at the official commissioning of the machines on Thursday in Abuja, Tinubu observed that though tuberculosis is curable, too many Nigerians are still dying from the disease because there’s no technology to detect the disease and because of limited access to appropriate diagnostic tools.

She noted that these diagnostic machines will be deployed across Nigeria to enhance rapid, accurate TB detection, especially in underserved areas.

Tinubu recalled that she made a commitment of an additional one billion naira through the Renewed Hope Initiative to further support the fight against tuberculosis in Nigeria during the World TB Day 2025 earlier this year and expressed joy that the pledge has been translated into reality.

She said that the new diagnostic machines will help to bridge the gap in TB diagnosis in the country, enable early, accurate detection and treatment, and break the chain of transmission.

“These diagnostic machines will enhance rapid, accurate TB detection, especially in underserved areas. They will help break the dangerous chain of transmission by ensuring that those infected are quickly diagnosed and placed on treatment. This is the gap that the Renewed Hope Initiative, with the support of other stakeholders, including the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, is trying to bridge,” she said.

Tinubu stressed the need for sustained investment in Nigeria’s TB response.

“It is important to say that to end TB in Nigeria requires not only machines and medication. It demands resources — human, financial, technical, and political. As such, I take this moment to emphasise the importance of increasing and sustaining domestic resources in our national TB response.”