Ghana’s fight against tuberculosis (TB) is facing a critical funding shortfall that threatens the country’s ability to meet both national and global targets to end the disease by 2030, health sector leaders and development partners have warned.
According to Samuel Hackman, Executive Secretary of the Ghana Country Coordinating Mechanism of the Global Fund, Ghana is currently implementing Grant Cycle 7 of the Global Fund, valued at approximately 250 million United States dollars.
The grant supports the country’s response to HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. However, only about 20 million dollars of this amount has been allocated to TB over a three-year period.
Hackman explained that this level of support falls far short of what is required.
Ghana’s National Strategic Plan for Tuberculosis estimates that between 60 and 80 million dollars is needed annually to adequately implement TB interventions.
Spread over three years, the current TB allocation represents less than 15 per cent of the required annual funding, making it unrealistic for Ghana to achieve the target of eliminating TB by 2030.
He noted that the global health financing landscape is shrinking due to donor fatigue and shifting priorities among development partners, leaving countries like Ghana with little choice but to pursue self-sustaining solutions.
“Tuberculosis affects Ghanaians directly—workers, breadwinners, families and taxpayers. Without adequate domestic investment, we risk reaching 2030 without meeting our own targets,” he said.
TB continues to have serious implications for productivity and national development, particularly when cases go undetected.
As an infectious disease, it spreads easily within communities and limits the ability of affected persons to work and contribute economically. Although TB is preventable and curable, inadequate funding hampers community screening, diagnosis, treatment and efforts to suppress transmission.
Hackman stressed that while the Global Fund remains a key partner, government financing must become the primary driver of Ghana’s TB response, with donor support serving as a complementary contribution.
He called for deliberate prioritisation of TB funding through national budget allocations, as well as support from corporate organisations, philanthropists and individuals.
The funding concerns are reinforced by recent epidemiological data. Ghana recorded more than 17,000 TB cases between January and October 2025, according to the Deputy Programme Manager of the National TB Control Programme, Dr Rita Patricia Amenyo.
Of this number, about 700 cases involved children, representing approximately 4.2 per cent of reported cases. Men accounted for a higher proportion of cases than women, a trend Dr Amenyo attributed partly to women’s greater health-seeking behaviour rather than discrimination.
Despite some improvement in case detection, Ghana remains far below the World Health Organisation (WHO) benchmark of approximately 44,000 cases expected to be detected annually. This means an estimated 25,000 people with TB remain undiagnosed each year, continuing to fuel transmission within communities.
“Finding TB is not simple,” Dr Amenyo said. “It requires funding, diagnostic equipment, trained health workers and strong advocacy from civil society and the media to encourage people with symptoms to seek care without fear or stigma.”
Stigma remains a major barrier to TB control.
Ziem Bernard, Programme Manager of the National TB Programme, highlighted the emotional, psychological and economic toll of stigma and discrimination, both in communities and, at times, within health facilities.
He commended TB survivors who shared their experiences during the sensitisation and capacity-building workshop, describing their testimonies as powerful tools for advocacy and behaviour change.
The workshop formed part of a nine-month Drug-Resistant TB (DR-TB) grant under the Challenge Facility for Civil Society 2025, implemented in the Ashanti, Eastern, Greater Accra and Central regions, which account for the highest burden of DR-TB notifications in Ghana.
Jerry Amoah-Larbi, National Coordinator of the Ghana National TB Voice Network, said the workshop was designed to empower TB survivors to act as community advocates by identifying suspected cases and supporting referrals for testing and treatment. He noted that survivor-led advocacy is key to reducing stigma and improving early case detection.
He added that the nine-month DR-TB grant under the Challenge Facility for Civil Society 2025 aims to address service and social barriers in high-burden regions, stressing that collaboration among government, civil society and the media is essential to end TB by 2030.
DR-TB occurs when the TB bacterium becomes resistant to first-line medicines, making treatment longer, more complex and more expensive.
The WHO Technical Lead for HIV, TB and Hepatitis, Dr Kafui Senya, warned that misinformation and stigma often cause more harm than the disease itself, but reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to supporting Ghana’s TB elimination efforts.
As Ghana pursues its broader development ambitions, health experts agree that ending TB is not optional but essential. Without urgent action to close the funding gap, strengthen systems and confront stigma, the disease will continue to claim lives and undermine economic progress long beyond 2030.
Source:
www.ghanaweb.com
