As the world celebrated Tuberculosis Day, the spotlight was on the urgent acceleration of lifesaving responses to tuberculosis (TB) and the need to build on high-level commitments by heads of state at the 2018 UN High-Level Meeting on TB. In this light, civil society organisations in Ghana have raised concerns over the fact that many continue to get infected and die of the disease.

The civil society organisations noted that the situation with TB has now been complicated by the dangers of Covid-19. The Executive Director of WACI Health, an African regional advocacy organisation, Ms. Rosemary Mburu, who spoke on behalf of the concerned civil society organisations stated that Ghana was making great strides towards ending TB but that much more needs to be done to end TB deaths. She called on President Nana Akufo-Addo to scale up access to TB preventive therapy and treatment. She said that that could be achieved by ensuring sufficient and sustainable financing to promote an equitable, rights-based and people-centred TB response that extends to cover research.

The civil society organisations also appealed to the government to equally prioritise resource allocation to TB preventive treatment, to ensure the prevention of infection among the most vulnerable populations, including children under five, persons living with HIV and healthcare workers. In addition to WACI Health, the concerned civil society organisations include Hope for Future Generations (HFFG), Ghana TB Voice Network and the Global Fund Advocates Network (GFAN Africa).

Source: BusinessGhana

Photo source: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade