Although an estimated 44,000 people develop TB in the country annually, less than 50 per cent of cases are detected and placed on treatment, the Programme Manager of the National Tuberculosis Control Programme, Dr Bernard Ziem, has said.
He said that the gap in case detection remained a major challenge, as undiagnosed persons continued to spread the disease within communities.
“More than 50 per cent of the estimated TB cases go undiagnosed and are not put on treatment, and this, if not controlled, will undermine the gains we have made,” he said.
The manager was speaking at the launch of the 2026 World TB Day in Accra yesterday on the theme: “Yes we can end TB: Led by countries, powered by people.”
Overview
Giving an overview of the country’s TB situation, Dr Ziem said that although the country had made significant progress in reducing mortality, incidence was not declining fast enough to meet national and global targets.
“The incidence is reducing, there is evidence to that effect, but the pace is slow and something must be done about it,” he said.
The manager said that the country currently falls within the category of nations with high treatment success, but low case detection, a situation he said continued to hamper progress.
Challenges
Despite the interventions, Dr Ziem said the department identified dwindling funding as a major threat to the fight against TB.
The latest allocation from the Global Fund had decreased significantly compared with previous cycles, creating a funding gap for the programme.
He, therefore, called for increased domestic funding and stronger government commitment to sustain TB control efforts.
Intervention
The Deputy Minister of Health, Prof. Grace Ayensu-Danquah, said the government had taken steps to strengthen TB detection and diagnosis across the country.
She said investment had been made in the procurement of 10 AI-enabled digital X-ray systems and 15 GeneXpert machines to improve early diagnosis and treatment.
“This investment is a strong demonstration of the government’s resolve to retool the health system at a time when global health financing is becoming increasingly uncertain,” Prof. Ayensu-Danquah said.
She added that the introduction of a free primary health care programme would play a critical role in early detection, timely treatment and reduction in transmission.
Prof. Ayensu-Danquah further said ending TB required collective effort, particularly from communities, civil society organisations and the private sector.
The Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Samuel Kaba Akoriyea, also called on stakeholders to renew their commitment to eliminating TB as a public health threat.
He said that although progress had been made over the years, much work remained to ensure that future generations were free from the disease.
Global statistics
The World Health Organisation (WHO) Representative to Ghana, Dr Fiona Braka, said Tuberculosis (TB) continues to exact a heavy toll in the African region, with about 378,000 deaths and 2.7 million new infections recorded in 2024 alone.
She said the region accounts for about a quarter of the global TB burden, adding that “every 83 seconds, somebody dies of tuberculosis in the WHO African region.”
“TB case detection has remained below 50 per cent despite modest improvements over the last two years,” Dr Braka said.
She said the African region required about $4.5 billion annually to mount an effective response, but currently faces a funding gap of about $3.6 billion.
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh