Korean government donates Covid-19 essential supplies to Ministry of Health

The Government of the Republic of Korea through the Korea International Cooperation Agency’s Project for Improving Community-based Primary Healthcare (CHPS+ Project), has made some donations to the Ministry of Health (MoH).

The handover took place at the Ministry of Health Conference Room in Accra on January 29, 2021 and the items handed over to the Ministry include four PCR machines, four Automated RNA Extractors and 27,000 units of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs). The PPEs include goggles, aprons, face masks and nose masks worth US$200,092. 

According to information from the MoH, the “United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) provided the expertise and technical support for the procurement of the items in consultation with Ghana Health Service and MoH.”

The MoH revealed that “the funds for the donation were reprogrammed from recently concluded KOICA’s flagship health sector CHPS+ Project which was implemented in all districts in the Upper East Region from 2016 to 2020.”

The donation was in response to Ghana’s imminent need for Covid-19 essential supplies such as laboratory equipment and Personal Protective Equipment in responding to its national emergency. It “falls under many contributions by the Korean Government to support Government of Ghana in its response to the Covid-19 pandemic while strengthening the bilateral partnership and friendship that have existed for 43 years” the MoH said.

To ensure that the President’s directive that real time data on all covid-19 tested persons be provided on the common platform by the Ghana Health Service is heeded to, the Ministry has resolved to distribute the PCR machines and the automated RNA extractors to all four public Health Reference Laboratory in Accra, Sekondi, Kumasi and Tamale “to strengthen the nation’s capacity for Covid-19 testing and reduce the backlog of sample for testing which hopefully can contribute to give a real time picture of the covid-19 situation in Ghana.”

The PPEs will also be distributed across the nation to ensure the safety of health workers across various facilities.

The programme was attended by Mr. Mooheon Kong, the Country Director of Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) Ghana Office, Dr. Kwabena Boadu Oku Afari, Chief Director of the Ministry of Health, Mr. Taesoo Kim, the Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Ghana and Madam Ifeoma Charles-Monwuba, the representative of UNOPS.