One Woman, One Clinic, and a New Front Line Against TB
Every week, Rakiya Maitama walks the lanes of Riminkebbe, Inusawa, Zango and Dantamashe in Ungogo LGA, Kano. She stops at doorsteps, speaks with women in their compounds and gathers neighbours to talk about tuberculosis: the cough that lasts more than two weeks, the night sweats, and the fact that TB can be cured. Rakiya is a TB Champion with RAHAMA Girl Child and Women Empowerment Initiative (RAHAMA) under the ASCENT DR-TB project, funded by Unitaid and supported by Treatment Action Group (TAG). Since February 2026, she has been the link between these communities and Galula Health Clinic. Many people she meets have never thought of their cough as serious. Many women, busy with households and children, rarely go to the clinic for themselves. So Rakiya kept going back, house by house and week by week. Between March and October 2026, she reached more than 8,300 people, including over 2,300 women. She screened 517 people for TB symptoms, referred 458 to Galula Health Clinic, and made 254 ...