TB kills 30 people daily in Ghana

30 people die daily through tuberculosis and 125 people contract the disease on a daily basis in Ghana, Mr Isaac Opoku Asamoah, Senior Technical Officer, Greater Accra Regional TB Control has revealed.

He said TB had been a silent killer, and adults in most parts of the developing world, including Ghana, were unknowingly exposed to TB bacteria.

Mr Asamoah who was speaking with the Ghana News Agency in an interview mentioned that the progression from latent to active TB disease depended on the individual’s immunity.

He said people with a higher risk of progressing to disease were smokers, alcoholics, prisoners, people living in crowded and poorly ventilated rooms, mine workers, or persons exposed to silica.

He said persons with lowered immunity due to medical conditions such as HIV, diabetes, cancer, kidney failure, and malnutrition were also at higher risk.

He said the commemoration of the 2023 World TB Day in Ghana was marked by a series of activities, including nationwide screening, especially in densely populated communities, intensifying advocacy, and sensitization, among others.

He added that a webinar for paediatricians was offered by the Ghana Paediatric Society to increase their suspicion of childhood TB and enable them to screen more children in all facilities.

“This is because TB in children is difficult to diagnose, and research done last year in Komfo Anokye found 50 TB cases among severely-ill children on admission from January to June,” he stated.

Mr Asamoah stressed that TB was a preventable and curable disease and said free diagnosis and treatment were available in all public and accredited private health facilities.