Kwaku Agyeman-Manu handing over the medical equipment to an official of one of the beneficiary health facilities, with him are Dr. Charity Sarpong, Greater Accra Regional Health Director (right) and Regina Bauerochse Barbosa (left).
The Ghana Heart Initiative (GHI), being implemented by GIZ, has supported 44 health facilities in the Greater Accra Region with 313 pieces of medical equipment worth 200,000 Euros.
The GHI, with funding from Bayer AG, a Pharmaceutical company, presented the equipment including 164 sphygmomanometers, 41 weighing scales with height meter, 43 glucometers, 32 electrocardiograms, 29 defibrillators and four monitors to the Ministry of Health (MoH) for onward distribution to the health facilities.
The Ada East Hospital, LEKMA Hospital and the Mamprobi Polyclinic, which participated in the GHI pilot project for the prevention, diagnosis and management of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are among beneficiary health facilities.
GIZ Ghana Country Director, Regina Bauerochse Barbosa, speaking at a short handing over ceremony said cardiovascular diseases are a growing public health problem adding that strokes and other CVDs have become a leading cause of deaths due to increasing risk factors.
She said individuals at high risk of CVDs were usually at the peak of their productive years, adding that early diagnosis and adequate management of the risk factors could reduce the incidents of CVDs.
Mrs Barbosa noted that it was for this reason that the GIZ has since October 2018, been implementing the GHI on behalf of Bayer AG, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service (GHS).
She therefore expressed satisfaction at the impact the project has made so far while commending the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service for their invaluable cooperation.
Bayer AG Commercial Lead AWA & and Head of Office Ghana, Clement Owusu-Addo, in a brief remark indicated that Bayer AG sees it as a responsibility to help expand access to healthcare for all and was therefore proud to join hands with the MOH, GHS, GIZ and the various health institutions in Ghana to strengthen health systems to be able to help in the fight against Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).
He said Bayer AG will continue to work closely with its partners in increasing the effectiveness of NCD treatment in Ghana, while measuring the outcomes and impact of its efforts on increasing patients’ access to healthcare.
Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, thanked the GHI for the donation, saying it would support Ghana’s efforts in confronting the challenges posed by CVDs, which were among the main causes of death in the country.
He said the medical equipment were very essential in improving CVDs care in health facilities, and especially when these diseases had become an important co-morbidity in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We are therefore pleased to sign an addendum to the MOU, which provides for the extension of the GHI to other regions of Ghana and also to replicate deepened or specialized trainings in Deep Vein Thrombosis for six other public hospitals in Ghana following the pilot in Kumasi,” he said.
He encouraged beneficiary facilities to take good care of the equipment and put them to the use they were intended for, and to ensure good maintenance on timely basis as required by policy to ensure their longevity.
GHI Project Director, Dr. Alfred Doku, said heart disease and stroke were the main causes of death among adult Ghanaians.
He said a successful implementation of the project would have a tremendous impact on the country’s health system, saying “by the end of 2021, 1,800 health professionals would have received trainings on CVD risk assessment and management as well as Basic Life Support and Advanced Cardiac Life Support.
“Until now, the GHI has already trained more than 650 health professionals, and developed national guidelines for the management of CVDs and a facilitator’s guide for the CVD training, and as a result, 66 health facilities in the Greater Accra Region were already able to improve their CVD management.
He said by the end of the project, it was expected that more than 160 Ghanaian health facilities across all regions would benefit from the GHI, and mentioned other implemented measures such as the trial of a 24/7 support call centre for CVD management, the improvement of CVD-related data collection and management systems as well as direct Covid-19 support for two hospitals.
Dr Doku said together with the MOH and the GHS the project had successfully conducted a pilot phase in the Greater Accra Region and was now being rolled-out to the entire country.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri