By’ Rachel Kakraba
The Acting Programme Manager of the National TB Control Programme, Dr. Ziem Bernard, is making a strong case for the inclusion of post-TB lung disease care under the Ghana Medical Care Trust Fund, popularly known as the Mahama Care initiative, to deal with long-term lung complications after TB cure. He explained that although TB drugs are provided free of charge, care for complications after treatment falls outside existing funding arrangements, leaving vulnerable survivors without sustained medical attention, which could put financial strain on them.
“I believe that living with post -TB lung disease, in a way is a form of chronic disease, and people who are going through that, could be possibly supported to manage their lives and get some relief from the consequences of the disease. So it’s up to the community to start thinking about it and making those advocacies because to raise 50 ,000 as an individual for medical attention is not an easy one for most Ghanaians today”
Dr. Ziem, made this known during a workshop on Drug Resistance TB and Gender Mainstreaming, in the Greater Accra Region. It was organized by the Ghana National TB Voice Network under the Challenge facility for Civil Society and brought together key players in the health sector, civil society organizations, journalists, and TB champions.
The programme formed part of broader efforts to strengthen awareness, improve early case detection, and support advocacy
Dr. Ziem, stressed the need for comprehensive data collection to determine the number of people affected by post-tuberculosis lung disease in Ghana, to inform and shape targeted interventions and long-term care policies.
“After being treated for TB, how many people come to the point where they need to have maybe a surgery to correct recurrent pleural effusion or some other corrective surgeries. That data is yet to be properly gathered to make a case”
He said nutrition is a critical component of TB treatment, and assured persons receiving tuberculosis treatment that the nutritional support programme remains fully in place, despite ongoing concerns over continuity.
“Nutritional support has not been stopped, it is still in place, maybe we are having stock outs here and there, but, as a Programme Manager, I know we are in the process of procuring some of those fortified blended foods to distribute”
Adding on “the programme alone cannot feed everybody to his full, so, we need to continue to advocate for families and other support systems so that we can get people to adhere to treatment”
Dr. Woedem Tettey, Physician Specialist at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital, encouraged all to screen for tuberculosis, as early diagnosis prevents disease complications.
“Early detection of TB is very important because TB destroys the lung, and if your lung is destroyed, it makes it difficult for you to breathe. So it makes you get tired easily and it affects your daily activities, working, moving up and down, running, and other things”
She said delays in diagnosis, particularly drug-resistant TB, could fuel an increase in thedisease burden which could derail Ghana’s elimination efforts
“If we don’t diagnose it early, then the person who has drug resistant TB can spread it to other people, and the more it spreads, that means that the numbers of drug resistant TB is increasing”.
She added “if your disease is not picked up early, then the, the bacteria has the opportunity to cause more damage until it’s picked up”
Dr. Tettey, said diagnosing tuberculosis has become easier than ever, citing the availability of improved diagnostic tools and resources that enable early detection and timely treatment of the disease.
“It’s easy to diagnose people with TB because now there are resources available. For example, before we needed to prepare a slide and other things which even put lab people at risk, but now with the gene Xpert, it’s able to diagnose and even be able to tell us whether there’s resistance to the core medications that we are using, which we call the backbone”
She encouraged the public to observe basic cough etiquette such as the use of tissue to cover the mouth when coughing or the use of the elbow to break the spread.
Adding on “if you see that you are coughing, losing weight and then also having night sweat which will make your beds get wet, you should think about TB. Even if the health worker is not thinking about TB, you think about it and suggest to them”
Dr. Tettey reminded all that TB is curable with the appropriate treatment and encouraged especially persons affected by the disease to comply with medications.
National Coordinator, Ghana National TB Voice Network, Jerry Amoah-Larbi, described Ghana’s TB situation as worrying, citing a large number of undetected and untreated cases. He called for concerted efforts in drawing attention to domestic TB funding.
“It is important that we all come together as stakeholders and also draw government attention to the need that they have to support the TB programme because funding is about 95% donor”
Mr. Amoah-Larbie, said deliberate actions have to be taken to ensure the necessary funding to support especially case finding efforts in Ghana.
