The Canadian Government has supported the Ashanti Regional Health Directorate with $10 Million financial package to support lifesaving services for the people in Ghana especially those in the Ashanti Region following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The support is to improve quality health care, maternal health, training, sanitation and hygiene as well as portable water in some selected hospitals in the Region with a focus on gender equality.
The Ashanti Region which currently has the second-highest number of reported COVID-19 cases is benefiting from the program with the help of the Canadian government under a strategic partnership between the Government of Ghana and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
This is to strengthen the region’s capacity to diagnose and treat COVID-19 patients through the provision of 4 PCR Machine use to diagnose Covid-19, neonatal resuscitation equipments like phototherapy machine, incubators, radiant warmers, oxygen concentrators amongst others.
At the handing over ceremony at Ejisu Government Hospital of the Ashanti Region, H.E. Kati Csaba, Canadian High Commissioner to Ghana said women and girls were disproportionally being affected by the pandemic.
She said Canada was proud to support UNICEF with $10 Million and the Government of Ghana in addressing gender inequalities in their work to prevent and respond to COVID-19, adding that it would help achieve the ambitious targets set out through the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
She said COVID-19 had placed enormous strain on essential services which had been further challenged by the lack of basic water and functional sanitation services in many healthcare facilities in Ghana.
She added the project at neonatal intensive care units in support of the newest members of the community and also increase the number of laboratories with COVID-19 diagnostic capacity which would also address the gaps in sanitation and hygiene infrastructure to improve the process of infection prevention and control and to mitigate the threat of COVID-19 infections in the selected facilities.
Ms. Anne-Claire Dufay, UNICEF representative in Ghana on behalf of UNICEF, asserted that primary healthcare and integrated services across sectors could save lives and help boost progress towards universal healthcare as well as gender equality.
She said UNICEF was delighted to partner with the Government of Ghana and Canada to have a positive impact on the lives of the most vulnerable children and women.
Dr. Emmanuel Tenkorang, the Ashanti Regional Health Director, commended the Canadian government and UNICEF for the support to enhance the Region’s preparedness in infection prevention, build the capacity of health workers, and provide the needed critical COVID-19 diagnosis, management, and provision of essential health services to women and children.
He expressed the directorate’s appreciation for the intervention and pledged his commitment to ensuring a successful implementation of the project.
