Sophia Akuffo
The COVID -19 National Trust Fund has donated assorted medical items to 11 selected treatment and health centres in four regions to support the management and treatment of coronavirus cases.
The items included infra- red thermometer guns, scrub suits, head covers, coveralls, heavy duty aprons, disposable aprons, utility gloves, examination gloves, sterile gloves, gynaecological gloves, N95 facemasks, surgical face masks and goggles.
The eleven beneficiary institutions included the Greater Accra Regional Hospital, Ridge, Tema General Hospital, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, University of Ghana Hospital, 37 Military Hospital, University of Ghana Medical Centre, Legon and the Police Hospital all in the Greater Accra region.
The rest are the Koforidua Regional Hospital, in the Eastern region, the Hohoe Municipal Hospital and the Ho Teaching Hospital in the Volta region, and Nkwanta District Hospital in the Oti region.
At a short ceremony at the forecourt of the State House in Accra, Justice Sophia Akuffo, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the fund, said the donation formed part of a consignment worth GHC10 million to be distributed to institutions and individuals directly engaged in the combat of COVID-19 across the country.
She indicated that the distribution of the items climaxed the Fund’s first major country-wide programme aimed at fulfiling the cardinal objectives of the Act establishing the Trust Fund to support persons engaged in the combat of the pandemic.
Justice Akuffo pointed out that despite the efforts Government and other benevolent institutions made to equip and protect frontline workers in the fight to end the spread the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous health professionals had complained in the media about the inadequacy of PPE’s and other logistics needed to combat the disease.
Thus, the donation, she stated, was meant “to fill, for the time being, the gap or shortfall in the supply of PPE and other medical items to Frontline workers for the fight against the coronavirus pandemic”.
The Fund Chairperson said the Trust Fund had to date spent some GHC32,581,233.90 out of a total of GHC53,911,294.87 received so far as donations, representing more than half of the contributions accruing to the Fund.
She called on corporate bodies, NGO’S, groups, churches, Ghanaians, individuals, and the general public to continue to make contributions to enable the Trust Fund discharge its mandate of supporting persons and institutions engaged in combating the pandemic.
Justice Akuffo impressed on the management of beneficiary institutions to use the donated items judiciously.
“In particular, the items should not be allowed to languish in storage for inordinate lengths of time because of onerous and cumbersome bureaucratic procedures, before they are released to the targeted users and staff who need them so desperately”.
The Trust Fund has already donated items to 34 treatment and Health Centers in the Northern, Upper East, Upper West, Savannah and North East, Ashanti, Bono, Ahafo and Bono East, Western, Central and Western North Regions.