Tuberculosis is often whispered about in Northern Ghana, shrouded in fear and silence. Families break apart, marriages collapse, and patients hide their condition to avoid rejection. For Alhaji Abdul-Rashid Imoro, this silence is as dangerous as the disease itself.
“When people are stigmatised, they hide. They rely on cough syrups and sweets instead of going to the hospital. That is how TB spreads and becomes deadly,” he said in an interview with the Northern Regional Editor of KumasiMail.Com, Joseph Ziem.
As Executive Director of Inspire To Act, Alhaji Imoro leads a women- and youth-focused rights-based organisation founded in 2017 to empower those excluded from opportunities. “We were inspired by the story of a woman who struggled to meet a municipal leader but was turned away simply because of her status. If she knew it was her right to access that office, she would have insisted. That is why Inspire To Act exists, to ensure women, young people and persons with disabilities know their rights and claim them,” he explained.
The TB Challenge
Now the nonprofit has taken on one of its most urgent battles — a project titled Promoting the human rights of people with and affected by TB, which works across six districts of the Northern Region to dismantle stigma, correct misconceptions, and restore dignity to patients. These are: Tamale Metro, Sagnarigu, Karaga, Gushegu, Yendi and Bimbila.
“We initially targeted 16,000 households but reached 19,000. The impact goes far beyond our projections,” Alhaji Imoro said.
But the challenge is daunting. TB has long been surrounded by fear, secrecy and misunderstanding. Myths persist that TB is a curse from the gods, a punishment for immoral behavior, or a disease spread through sharing food and utensils. Families have broken apart, marriages have collapsed, and patients have hidden their condition to avoid shame.
Changing Minds, Changing Lives
The Promoting the human rights of people with and affected by TB project has been breaking through these barriers with information, compassion and community mobilisation.
A woman in Karaga who once believed TB was spiritual described her transformation after a sensitisation session:
“Now I know TB is not a curse from the gods. It is just an illness that can be treated at the hospital.”
For another man, Inspire To Act’s work restored his dignity and relationships.
“Before, my family didn’t want to eat with me or share space with me. They said I was dangerous. But now they understand TB is not spread that way. I feel like I have my life back.”
Perhaps most powerful are the voices of TB survivors themselves. One man, once shunned by his community, now proudly identifies as a TB Champion.
“I used to hide, afraid of what people would say. But today, I stand proudly and tell others TB can be cured. I am living proof.”
Their stories, Alhaji Imoro explained, “give hope to people who feel their diagnosis is a death sentence. It changes the narrative from fear to possibility.”
Dispelling Myths and Training Health Workers
The misconceptions remain stubborn.
“Some people believe it can be contracted during sexual intercourse if a partner coughs. This has broken marriages. Others refuse to share bowls or socialise with TB patients, even though TB is not spread this way. It is only transmitted through active sputum when an infected person coughs,” Alhaji Imoro explained.
Shockingly, even some health workers were not fully informed about TB.
“You will be surprised that some nurses did not even know TB is airborne. That is why we trained 167 healthcare workers on a rights-based approach. We wanted them to understand that TB patients have a right to health, and they as health workers have the responsibility to ensure those rights are respected.”
This training has made facilities safer and friendlier for patients, reducing the sense of hostility and abandonment TB patients sometimes felt in hospitals.
Mobilising Religious Leaders
Recognising the authority of faith in Northern Ghana, Inspire To Act also engaged faith-based actors such as church and mosque leaders .
“The community listens to our religious leaders a lot,” Alhaji Imoro noted. “We trained 210 of them, more than our target of 180, to use their pulpits in churches and mosques to teach people about TB. They told families not to stigmatise their relatives who tested positive. This reduced the discrimination we were seeing.”
For many patients, hearing their imam or pastor declare that TB is a curable illness, not a curse, was enough to break through years of fear and silence.
Building Hope Through TB Champions
The decision to involve cured patients as champions has proven transformative. These individuals speak from lived experience, offering not just information but proof.
“When they share testimonies like ‘I had TB, I got treated, and now I live a normal life,’ it gives people hope,” Alhaji Imoro said. “It demystifies the disease. TB is curable and only becomes deadly when left untreated.”
By normalising TB as a condition that can be treated and overcome, Inspire To Act has shifted community conversations from stigma to solidarity.
Funding and Sustainability
The project has been supported by the Stop TB Partnership International, the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), the Global Fund and USAID.
Although recent funding cuts have forced Inspire To Act to scale down its activities, the organisation continues limited work in Tamale Metro, focusing on education, household sensitisation and TB screening to help find “missing cases” of people with TB who remain undiagnosed or untreated.
Despite financial challenges, Inspire To Act’s commitment remains firm. “Every patient we reach, every household we educate, is a step closer to a TB-free Ghana,” Alhaji Imoro said.
A Vision for a TB-Free Ghana
Reflecting on the journey so far, Alhaji Imoro offered a powerful reminder:
“TB is not a curse. It is not punishment from God. It is a disease that anyone can get, but it is also one that can be cured. What we need is compassion, correct information and the courage to stand against stigma. That is how we will build communities free of TB.”
For the woman who no longer believes TB is spiritual, the man reunited with his family, and the TB survivor now standing as a champion, Inspire To Act has already changed lives.
And perhaps it is best said by the survivor who now carries the torch: “I used to hide, afraid of what people would say. But today, I stand proudly and tell others TB can be cured. I am a living testimony.”
Source: www.KumasiMail.Com/JosephZiem
