Assessing tuberculosis surveillance in northwest Nigeria: Evidence from a systematic review

This study Assessed Tuberculosis Surveillance in Northwest Nigeria: Evidence from a Systematic Review. A literature search was conducted across the Lancet, AJOL, PubMed, SciSpace, ResearchGate, and Google Scholar for studies published between 2006 and 2023, using the keywords “Nigeria,” “Northwest Nigeria,” “Tuberculosis,” “Surveillance,” and “Mycobacterium tuberculosis.” Fifty-seven (57) relevant articles were reviewed. The findings revealed reported cases of 161 in Kaduna, 9,590 in Jigawa, 934 in Kano, 17,811 in Katsina, 6,354 in Kebbi, 100 in Sokoto, and 415 in Zamfara State. An additional 1,742 cases were reported across other parts of the Northwestern region. These results demonstrate that tuberculosis prevalence remains substantially high in Northwest Nigeria, posing a continuing public health challenge. The study recommends strengthening tuberculosis (TB) control in Northwest Nigeria through capacity building and improved surveillance. Key measures include training and equipping community health workers for grassroots case detection, upgrading electronic surveillance systems for real-time tracking, and launching public awareness campaigns to address illiteracy-related barriers. Door-to-door screenings in high-burden areas should be prioritized to reduce stigma and promote early care-seeking. Special attention must also be given to high-risk groups such as people living with HIV, prisoners, and nomadic populations. Finally, the expansion of rapid molecular diagnostic tools like GeneXpert MTB/RIF in both primary health facilities and remote communities is essential for timely case detection and drug-resistance monitoring.