New Tuberculosis drug launched in Eastern Region of Ghana

A new short-course Tuberculosis (TB) Preventive Therapy (TPT) combining two drugs, namely, rifapentine and isoniazid, has been launched for the first time at Agormanya, a town in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality in the Eastern Region of Ghana.

The new fixed-dose combination (FDC), also termed “3HP”, prevents people infected with TB from developing active TB disease and reduces the number of pills that people who need the treatment have to take every week from nine to three.

The launch in Ghana follows a recent global procurement agreement with Macleods made possible by the IMPAACT4TB project, funded by Unitaid and led by the Aurum Institute.

Ghana, alongside Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe is part of the initial countries starting to provide the FDC in the first quarter of 2021, while seven others will introduce it by the end of the year.

Other countries are expected to receive supplies with the support of PEPFAR and the Global Fund to Fight HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

According to Dr. Stephen Ayisi-Addo, the Programme Manager of National AIDS Control Programme (NACP), “Prevention of active TB disease by treatment of Latent TB Infection (LTBI) is a critical control objective of the NACP and National Tuberculosis Programme (NTP) to reduce the incidence of TB in Ghana.”

“The programs will continue to collaborate with Aurum Institute through the IMPAACT4TB project as they provide 3HP-FDC to 9000 eligible persons, technical capacity to service providers and improve on TPT reporting in 12 facilities in 4 regions of Ghana and will work towards the nationwide scale-up 3HP,” he added.

Dr. Kwame Essah, the Country Director of Aurum Institute Ghana, also emphasised that “The availability of 3HP in Ghana is great news in the response to TB infection control. This convenient short course TPT compliments the efforts of the government and should result in a greater compliance to treatment.”

On his part, Prof. Gavin Churchyard, founder and CEO of the Aurum Institute, lauded Ghana for their readiness to introduce the fixed-dose combination.

“Ghana, alongside other countries introducing the fixed-dose combination this year, deserves to be congratulated for their commitment to preventing TB, which ultimately is the only way we will end TB.

“With the roll-out of this new FDC in at least 12 high TB burden countries this year, I’m feeling a renewed sense of optimism that we can get back on track to meet our ambitious global TB prevention goals,” he said.

In Ghana, 44,000 people fell ill with TB in 2019 alone, which resulted in over 15,000 deaths, including 4,800 deaths among people living with HIV.

According to reports, about one-quarter of the world’s population is infected with TB bacteria and most of them do not have active disease and are not contagious which is known as TB infection, or ‘latent TB’.

Experts say, if left untreated, TB infection can develop into active TB disease, the form of TB that makes people sick and is capable of being transmitted from one person to another.