Understanding Chronic Diseases and Human Rights: The Effectiveness of a Training Program on Knowledge and Beliefs about Tuberculosis in Nigeria

Background: A human rights (rights-based) approach to tuberculosis (TB) programming places special focus on TB key and vulnerable populations and is essential to improving TB treatment access and outcomes. This study sought to evaluate the effectiveness of a training program on rights-based TB programming in Southern Nigeria. Methods: The study used a cross-sectional pretest/posttest design to assess the effectiveness of the training program from September 2023 to March 2024. Participants, consisting of healthcare workers, TB civil society organizations, and other TB stakeholders, were given two-day training on human rights and TB using a standardized training manual. Researchers used a standardized questionnaire to collect data before and after the training. Results: The mean age of the 296 participants was 39.6 (±10.6) years, with 180 females constituting 60.8%. About half 146 (49.3%) indicated they have been stigmatized for working or interacting with current or previous TB patients. A high proportion of the participants have also observed TB patients as well as other TB stakeholders being stigmatized. Stigmatization occurred in the community 136 (45.9%), hospital 96 (32.4%), and family 46 (15.5%) settings. The overall mean pretest score in the human rights approach to TB programming scale was 61.47 (±11.93), and for posttest score, 65.93 (±9.43) ( P < 0.001). Conclusions: The training significantly improved the participants’ knowledge and understanding of human rights approach to TB programming and highlighted the high level of stigmatization of TB patients, key populations, and health workers. These findings underpin the need for regular community-and hospital-based awareness creation and training on the rights of TB-affected persons.