The Ghana Health Service (GHS) says persons, battling Tuberculosis (TB) are at higher risk of contracting the COVID-19 disease.
According to GHS' Deputy Programs Manager of the National TB Control Program, Dr. Rita Patricia Frimpong Amenyo, the two infectious diseases affect the immune system and the lungs.
"Tuberculosis primarily affects the lungs although it can affect other parts of the body. Someone with TB is at higher risk of getting COVID-19 because the lungs that should help the person breath well, are affected by TB organisms. Again the lungs are the same place that COVID is affecting. That is why those patients do not do well when they get COIVD-19", she explained.
As the country progresses in vaccinating individuals classified under the first priority group, she urged Tuberculosis patients to continue to adhere to the COVID-19 preventive measures and protocols.
Dr. Frimpong Amenyo reiterated that the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab does not prevent one from contracting the COVID-19 disease.
Further speaking, she noted that the Service is recovering from using the entire allocated funds to manage the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Ghana Health Service, we have strategies to ensure that our services are not affected so we still have our funds but in the initial stages of the pandemic, a lot of the funds that we had were redirected to support COVID-19. Now that we seem to have some level of stability, we still have the funds that we are using for our program's activities", Dr. Patricia Frimpong Amenyo added.