The British High Commission and the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG), have handed over a High Dependency Unit (HDU) to the management of the St. Dominic Hospital in Akwatia in the Eastern Region for the treatment and management of Covid-19 infections.
The creation of the High Dependency Unit for Covid-19 patients is part of the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Offices’ contribution and support for 40 districts through the Covid-19 Response and Institutional Capacity Building projects to complement governments’ efforts in fighting the pandemic.
The St. Dominic Hospital High Dependency Unit fully funded by the UKaid is one of the 3 fully equipped units established in the Northern, Middle and Southern sectors.
Speaking at a ceremony to hand over the facility to management of the hospital, the British High Commissioner to Ghana, H.E Harriet Thompson, who lauded the government for successfully rolling out a first phase of the nationwide vaccination exercise, called on all to continue to support the President’s target of getting vaccinating 20 million Ghanaians to get the economy back on track.
“Over 5.4 million people have been provided with information to minimize Covid-19 infection rate. Globally, we have placed 1.3 billion pounds of UKaid towards global actions to contain the pandemic. Our support is multifaceted, and we are proud of our championing of globally coordinated action and our support to the developing of Covid-19 vaccines and an array of diagnostic tests and effective Covid-19 treatment”.
“UK has championed equitable access to the poor marginalized and most vulnerable. This includes 548 million pounds to COVAX to provide 3 COVID-19 vaccines for 500 million people in low and middle-income countries. Our contribution of 3.6 million dollars to the World Bank’s development association from 2020 to 2023 is enabling the World Bank to respond to countries which need help, including Ghana”.
“The fight against COVID-19 continues, and we must ensure we are ready for every bout. Ghana was the first country in the world to receive covax vaccines, and we commend the government for a successful first phase of the vaccination campaign, with over 3 million vaccines administered today. We must collectively continue our work to address vaccine hesitancy and ensure the president’s target of getting 20 million people vaccinated is achieved and quickly.”
Currently, over 130,000 cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in Ghana with about 1, 200 deaths and 95 percent recoveries.
Dr. Franklin Asiedu, the Director of Public Health, believes the only way Ghana and the world can have the necessary immunity, is by taking the vaccines and also wearing nose masks.