Lack of Gene Xpert machines hampering effective diagnoses of TB – NTP

The National TB Control Programme (NTP) is bemoaning the lack of Gene Xperts, a machine used in conducting TB tests, as a major hindrance towards diagnosing and combating TB in the country.

Identifying diagnosing infected persons as one of the major setbacks confronting the National TB Control Programme, Programme Manager at NTP, Dr. Yaw Adusi-Poku, speaking to journalists in Accra, said the lack of Gene Xperts and inadequate cartridges was a major setback and remained the most pressing needs hindering the fight against TB in the country.

“We’ve just about 171 Gene experts in the 216 districts across the country with most of these being in the regional and teaching hospitals and a smaller number in the district hospitals and so it’s important that we acquire more which is where we appeal for assistance," he bemoaned.

These insights were shared during a workshop in Accra organized for journalists by the Ghana National TB Voice Network (GNTBVN) under the Challenge Facility for Civil Society (CFCS) Round 12 grant.

The training aimed, amongst others, at equipping journalists with the requisite tools and insights to enable them to monitor the country’s progress towards meeting the commitments and targets of the United Nations High-Level Meeting on Tuberculosis (UNHLM TB) 2023.

Lamenting the rising cases of tuberculosis in the country, Dr. Poku disclosed that Ghana in 2023 documented some 19,000 cases of tuberculosis, which was a disturbing increase from the 16,500 cases reported in 2022 and around 14,000 cases in the preceding years.

“We’ve since 2015 recorded 14,000 cases, in 2019, it rose to 15,000 then to 16,500 in 2019 and then 19,000 in 2022,” he disclosed.

He added that the country falls short of the World Health Organization's (WHO) 10-percent target of all TB tests being children and appealed to the media to collaborate with the NTP to address these challenges.

Ghana between 2014 and 2019, constantly recorded approximately 14,000 to 15,000 cases annually, falling short of the 44,000 cases expected to be recorded annually.

As part of efforts to combat the canker, he called on members of the general public who notice symptoms of the condition to report to the nearest health facility for the necessary screening and free treatment.

Samuel Hackman, Executive Secretary of the Global Fund Country Coordinating Mechanism, attributed the low funding received by the TB to its relatively low cases.

He said, "If you check the allocations, TB usually gets the least, this is not because the global funding does not want to support TB but per the funding model, it's based on data so if your case finding is not very high, you'll not be given high amounts of funds."

He added that the country falls short of its targeted 40,000 cases in a year owing to the inadequate resources to diagnose the required number of cases.

Despite some commitment from the government towards the TB cause, he underscored the need for further commitment, particularly towards the procurement of Gene Xperts, cartridges and drugs.

Mr Hackman emphasised the need for the government to address the bottlenecks in the country's laws that hamper advanced procurement.

"It isn't that the government is not committed but we can do more for instance, to ensure that there is no bottleneck in our procurement laws and financial laws that stops the country from doing advance procurements. if those things can be addressed with the urgency that we did for COVID, then we should be able to buy for the people of Ghana," he stressed.

To this end, he said most of the targets would not be met due to the inadequate funding and reechoed the need for increased funding.