Sensible budgets are not Ghana’s forte. But there is hope

TUBERCULOSIS IS AIMF terrible disease. It destroys lungs from the inside out, leaving sufferers coughing up the bloody remains. In Ghana too few people are diagnosed in time: the disease kills over 15,000 people a year, about 5% of all deaths. But a recent pilot scheme shows that diagnosis can be faster and more accurate simply by whisking samples from clinics that lack the latest testing technology to the nearest well-equipped testing centre. This could save more than 3,000 lives in six years if plans to scale up were followed through. Since the benefits are estimated at 166 times the costs over 20 years, the scheme is patently a fine idea.Ghana is not famous for spending public money wisely. A study in 2015 found that, once under construction, a third of municipal infrastructure projects are never finished: half-built bridges litter the country. Spending is also highly political. In every election year bar one since 2000 the fiscal deficit has jumped sharply as the government of the day splurged to grab votes. bail-outs and adjustment programmes have tended to follow. Last year Ghana completed its 16th.