ABSTRACT
A great deal of the public health effort in Nigeria and throughout the developing world is therefore focused on tuberculosis (TB), AIDS, and malaria–the three primary poverty-related diseases on the planet. The nation's first countrywide TB prevalence survey was only done in 2012 and showed that Nigeria ranked third among all countries in the number of active TB infections. The Teaching Hospital at Lagos State University averages about twelve new TB cases per week. TB is the world's leading cause of death for an infectious disease, and while the rate of active TB infections is declining in much of the world, it is increasing sharply in sub-Saharan Africa. TB is also an opportunistic infectious agent and is a common co-occurring disorder among HIV patients. Among HIV patients, depression is known to lead to a more rapid decline in CD4+ cells and poor medication compliance, and therefore, strongly complicates the clinical management of the disease.
