Best Practice to Unearth the Missing Cases of TB Amidst COVID-19 in Ghana

RUWA-Ghana participated among twenty-three (23) implementing partners in a one-day workshop organised by the West Africa Program to Combat AIDS & STI (WAPCAS) at the M & J Hospitality Lodge in Tamale on Friday, May 6, 2022. The workshop was held as part of its collaboration with the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG) in implementing the STOP TB project under the sponsorship of the Global Fund in order to train their implementing partners on the best approaches to finding TB cases during COVID-19.

Introducing the workshop, Lord Essuah-wood, a board member of the STOP TB partnership from CHAD Health Foundation, explained the impact of the pandemic on the project over the years. He mentioned that TB cases over the years were mistaken for COVID-19 cases, exposing patients to COVID-19 stigmatisation, leading many to hide their symptoms, thereby making tracing of TB cases difficult. He added that it is possible to attain the overall objective of the project, which is “to end TB in Ghana by 2030” if trainers are given training to train the trainees in the communities and areas where they are implementing the project.

Mr. Wood also proceeded with the training session which focused on a refresher training on the COVID-19 response framework for the M & E officer of an organization where all participants took part in the process and gave their contributions.

On their part, the participants showed appreciation for the knowledge imparted and assured that they were going to practice it in their various organisations and communities to ensure that the project realizes its overall objective. However, they indicated Ghana being categorized as a middle-income country and the politicization of civil society organizations, among other factors, are preventing them from getting more aid from outside-donor-organizations to facilitate the process of attaining the overall objective of the project when they have a way to implement it on the general population instead of key populations.