Knowledge, Myths and Misconceptions of Ghanaians about Tuberculosis

Systematic review was performed to evaluate Ghanaian’s knowledge, myths and misconception about tuberculosis and their impact on the country. Several themes were observed, and fear of infection appears to be the most common cause of stigma. Some regions and groups of people in Ghana record low level of knowledge about tuberculosis. The study revealed certain community norms that lead to stigmatization of tuberculosis victims, and are thought to hinder TB control in Ghana. TB is believed among some Ghanaians as a spiritual disease, whiles others also believe that the cause of the disease is an ancestral punishment and this imparts an attitude of not seeking medical care. A major setback to successful TB control in many Ghanaian societies is the stigma attached to the disease. Because of fear of infection, most Ghanaian community members harbor the view that TB patients should not mingle freely with people in the society, and they are also deprived of many public and social amenities. The cause of TB should not be misunderstood and treated as a mystery. The disease is curable; therefore health care providers and stakeholders should act as destigmatizers and empower the people by reaching them with mass health education to allay their fears about it. Comprehensive literature review on the topic was conducted from ScienceDirect, PubMed, and Google Scholar.