Executive Director of the Africa Center for Health Policy Research and Analysis, Dr. Thomas Anaba, has revealed that the delay in clearing medical supplies donated by the Global Fund has resulted in a significant increase in tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV/AIDS cases.

The donated supplies, including antiretroviral drugs for HIV/AIDS patients and mosquito nets for pregnant women, have been held at the Tema Port since July 2023 due to import duties.

As a consequence of the delays, the Global Fund has halted further shipments of essential medical supplies.

Dr. Anaba expressed his concerns about a potential surge in tuberculosis, malaria, and AIDS cases compared to last year's figures, emphasizing the urgent need to clear the medical supplies to prevent a widespread health crisis.

“There is an increase in the cases of tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS from last year’s figure, and the complications of people dying from AIDS have also increased. Women getting malaria during pregnancy have increased because of this.”

Dr. Anaba proposed that Ghana should proactively communicate its need for medical supplies to the Global Fund in advance. Additionally, he suggested that the country should allocate budgetary resources for the clearance of these supplies to prevent future delays.

“Ghana has the statistics of how many people get tuberculosis, malaria and AIDS every year and this can be planned with a top-up percentage of 10 percent and then we can budget for how much of these drugs that we need and then we contact Global Fund on how much they can give us ahead of time and then we budget for money to clear the drugs.”