USAID-Funded “Wellness on Wheels” Trucks Provides Mobile ‘One Stop Shop’ for Tuberculosis Diagnosis and Treatment
With support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health deployed two fully equipped “Wellness on Wheels” trucks to serve as mobile health care centers providing quick diagnosis and state-of-the-art treatment to patients stricken with tuberculosis (TB) in some of the most vulnerable communities across the country.
The initiative was flagged off recently at a ceremony presided over by Minister of Health Professor Isaac Adewole and Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun as well as representatives from health stakeholders and donors in Osun’s capital city of Abeokutato.
The two trucks feature a digital x-ray machine and systems capable of delivering tuberculosis diagnostic test results in less than two hours. These mobile diagnostic units can literally bring TB screening and diagnosis to the doorsteps of clients in a one-stop setting, helping reduce transmission in communities through early diagnosis and treatment.
They also promote healthy behavior through a messaging component of the mobile campaigns. The trucks carry a mobile generator and potable water storage, permitting them to operate in some of the country’s remotest locations.
Challenge TB is a five-year global USAID program to decrease TB mortality and morbidity in TB- burdened countries like Nigeria. The mobilized trucks, which are staffed by health care specialists with the USAID-funded Challenge TB, represent a critical resource to carry out an approach known as “active case finding,” the health specialists diagnose and treat people with TB who have not sought diagnosis or care on their own initiative, which is especially common in low-income communities, where awareness of TB is low.
In 2016, the World Health Organization reported over 90,000 cases in Nigeria, the highest incidence in Africa and the fourth most in the world. Challenge TB is the centerpiece of U.S. support for tuberculosis control that links adults and children to health services for proper diagnosis and treatment.
TB is a highly infectious disease that can be spread from person to person or through the air. Early diagnosis and treatment is the most effective way to prevent the spread of tuberculosis. A person with infectious tuberculosis can infect up to 15 other people per year. But once diagnosed with TB, and started on treatment, the majority of patients are no longer infectious after just two weeks of taking medication.
In 2014, USAID launched Challenge TB activity to reduce transmission of the disease across Nigeria. Implemented by the KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation, Challenge TB works to increase public access to high-quality patient-centered TB services, strengthen service delivery platforms, and prevent disease transmission and progression.
