Aurum Institute Ghana, a proudly African organisation working to advance health science and innovation has reached a milestone of five years of operation in Ghana.
Aurum Ghana is part of The Aurum Institute Group which has its headquarters in South Africa and offices in Mozambique, eSwatini, Lesotho and the United States of America. The Group uses research and evidence to implement high-quality care and treatment programmes that will create a healthier world for future generations.
Since it started its operations in Ghana five years ago, Aurum has collaborated with the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Services to effectively deliver appropriate healthcare services to people living with TB and HIV. People living with HIV are more likely than others to become sick with TB. Globally, TB is one of the leading causes of death among people living with HIV.
Through the flagship UNITAID-funded IMPAACT4TB project, Aurum is scaling up TB preventive treatment in Ghana. Treatment for latent TB infection has been available since 1960s, yet very few people who are eligible get it or take it. 3HP is a short-course TB preventive treatment taken weekly for three months. It is therefore shorter and more tolerable, encouraging adherence and completion of the medication to treat latent TB. As of December 2021, more than 5000 people had been enrolled on 3HP through this project. IMPAACT4TB is an international consortium working to end TB in 12 high burden countries led by Aurum in Ghana, Mozambique and South Africa.
The Aurum Institute is also involved in a project to increase the private sector’s contribution to national TB case detection.
Previous projects which were successfully completed include the Stop TB Partnership-funded TB Reach Wave 6 Project, engaging private health providers and the National Health Insurance (NHIS) to scale up active TB case finding among vulnerable populations. The project used cutting-edge interventions in TB case finding and care to improve diagnosis, treatment and support for people with TB.
Aurum Ghana has also been part of the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic, joining the efforts of the Ghana Health Services, with the development of a response plan targeted towards its staff, the health system, and the community within which we operate. To help alleviate the stigma surrounding COVID-19, Aurum Ghana developed and widely distributed multimedia information and education materials and engaged influential figures to dispel myths and stigma around the disease. The organisation also recently started work on the IMPAACT4C19 project, aimed at reducing COVID-19 mortality and morbidity and its economic and social impact in resource-poor settings by improving access to quality and affordable diagnostic and therapeutic tools.
As a grantee in the UK Fleming Fund Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR) project with Mott MacDonald as Management Agents, Aurum Ghana successfully refurbished 11 human and animal health laboratories. Part of this was also the provision and maintenance of essential equipment and ensuring a continuous supply of appropriate reagents and consumables.
Our partnership with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to promote education and sustain the initiated campaign against COVID-19, contributed to WFP’s mandate of ensuring that local and national institutions are better prepared to manage food security, nutrition, and social protection in the face of the pandemic.
Aurum Institute Ghana celebrated its 5-year anniversary with a training for media reporting on public health and also donated logistics to aid COVID-19 diagnosis at the Ga East Municipal Hospital, Ghana Infectious Disease Centre, Greater Accra Regional Hospital and University of Ghana Hospital.
