Nigeria Faces Nationwide TB Drug Crisis As Patients Risk Death, $54m Funding Delayed

….Health workers raise alarm over two-month stock-out, say preventive drugs unavailable nationwide

Daud Olatunji

Nigeria is facing a worsening tuberculosis drug crisis, with health workers warning that patients across the country are at risk of death and further transmission of the disease following widespread shortages of essential medicines.

The shortage, which has reportedly persisted for nearly two months, has left healthcare facilities struggling to provide treatment, while supplies currently available in some centres may not last beyond December.

Particularly alarming is the reported nationwide unavailability of Tuberculosis Preventive Therapy (TPT), a medication administered to people exposed to TB and vulnerable groups, including people living with HIV, to prevent the development of active tuberculosis.

Health workers raised the alarm during a training for journalists on drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) reporting organised by the COMBAT DR-TB Project of the Civil Society for the Eradication of Tuberculosis in Nigeria, also known as TB Network, in Abuja.

One of the health officials at the training disclosed that the shortage had become so severe that facilities were struggling to manage the growing number of patients presenting for treatment.

“We have a stock-out of TB medications nationwide. The drugs we have now cannot take us up to December,” the official said.

Another health worker described the situation surrounding preventive medication as particularly disturbing.

“There is no single TPT anywhere in this country. All the TPT we have are expired,” the official disclosed.

The situation has reportedly forced some healthcare workers to ration available drugs among patients, despite concerns that such practices could undermine treatment outcomes.

One of the participants explained that facilities were distributing limited treatment kits among a larger number of diagnosed patients in anticipation of fresh supplies.

“You have 20 drugs, but you diagnosed 50. They are dividing the drugs for these 20 to these 50, thinking more drugs will come. I have 50 patients but 20 kits. Why watch these 50 die?” the official queried.

The development has raised concerns about the consequences of delayed treatment for a highly infectious disease that spreads through the air and can affect people in homes, workplaces, schools, markets and other crowded environments.

Findings from the Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (NEPWHAN) have also pointed to the scale of the shortage.

At a press briefing in Abuja on June 12, 2026, the organisation called on the Federal Government to declare the TB drug shortage a national public health emergency.

Its first-quarter community-led monitoring report, which assessed 2,135 health facilities across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, found that 64.2 per cent of the facilities experienced stock-outs of at least one essential tuberculosis commodity.

The report further revealed that 58.2 per cent of the monitored facilities recorded shortages of GeneXpert cartridges and sputum collection materials, which are essential for diagnosing tuberculosis.

NEPWHAN warned that some patients diagnosed with the disease were being asked to return weeks later because treatment drugs were unavailable.

The organisation said such delays could leave infected individuals spreading the disease within their communities while waiting for medication.