Ghana has procured 10 artificial intelligence-enabled digital X-ray systems and 15 GeneXpert machines to strengthen its tuberculosis (TB) detection capacity, as health officials revealed that fewer than half of the estimated 44,000 Ghanaians who develop TB each year are currently being identified and treated.
Deputy Minister of Health Dr Grace Ayensu-Danquah made the announcement on Tuesday, March 24, at the national commemoration of World TB Day 2026 in Accra, held under the theme “YES! We Can End TB — Led By Countries, Powered By People.”
“The Government of Ghana remains fully committed to strengthening the national response to tuberculosis. We have invested in the procurement of 10 new AI-enabled digital X-ray systems and 15 new GeneXpert machines, together with their accessories, to complement existing infrastructure,” she said.
The equipment is expected to cut diagnosis waiting times, expand testing capacity beyond major urban centres, and improve accuracy in identifying TB strains, including drug-resistant forms that standard tests can miss.
Ghana Health Service (GHS) Director-General Dr Samuel Kaba Akoriyea underscored the urgency behind the investment, disclosing that about 44,000 Ghanaians develop TB annually yet only around 20,000 are detected. He warned that the undetected cases continue to drive community transmission and called on Ghanaians to present early for screening.
Dr Akoriyea also pointed to the government’s Free Primary Health Care policy, scheduled for launch on April 6, as a transformative complement to the new equipment, arguing that free access to primary care would dramatically reduce the number of cases going undiagnosed due to cost barriers. “This occasion is particularly significant as Ghana will be launching our Free Primary Health Care which focuses on prevention and promotion,” he said.
World TB Day, observed annually on March 24, marks the date in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch announced his discovery of the bacterium that causes TB, a milestone that opened the path to diagnosis and treatment of the disease.
