To support efforts to curb the deadly COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), through its implemented health project, develoPPP.de, donated personal protective equipment (PPE) worth 30,000 Euros to the Noguchi Memorial Institute.
The items include medical protective goggles, hooded overall protective apparel, 3M particulate respirators, disposable aprons, disinfection wipes, single-use protective gloves and infra-red non-contact thermometers.
In his remarks, the team leader for the GIZ develoPPP in health project, Dr. Holger Till said, “We believe it is imperative to support the fight against the Coronavirus in a collaborative way, together with the private sector, the government and GIZ as a development partner. As you may already know, the number of cases is rising worldwide. It is therefore a critical time to protect ourselves as a nation and invest to support those at the frontline to keep everybody safe”.
The Director of the Noguchi Memorial Institute, Professor Abraham Kwabena Anang, who received the items on behalf of the institute said “One of the important keys in the sustainable development goals is goal number 17; which requires strong partnerships and cooperation to achieve everything. Without partnerships we cannot go far. We appreciate GIZ for giving us this important donation, strategically very useful to the institute. As you know the role Noguchi plays in this pandemic, we are going to leverage this donation to the highest maximum benefit, for the institute, and for the front-line workers.”
In addition to the above items, GIZ is expected to donate an additional 120,000 Euros worth of COVID-19 testing kits by February 2021 to the institute.
In October 2020, GIZ, through develoPPP in health project donated 14 ventilators to six Ghanaian hospitals.
This was part of the German Government’s effort to ensure reliable treatment infrastructure exists for medical staff and critically ill patients of these hospitals, whose health conditions may further deteriorate because of COVID-19 and may require intensive care.
The support is part of an overarching initiative called the Regional Programme Support to Pandemic Prevention in the ECOWAS Region (RPPP).
It was commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and co-financed by the European Union (EU), assisting the ECOWAS Commission, the West African Health Organisation (WAHO) and the Regional Centre for Surveillance and Disease Control (RCSDC) in supporting ECOWAS member states to improve the implementation of the International Health Regulations (IHR).
