Coronavirus: Ghanaians support India with 150 oxygen concentrators

Following the drastic surge of Covid-19 cases in India this month, Ghanaians, have in a gesture of brotherliness, provided a donation of medical grade 150 oxygen concentrators to needy hospitals in that country.

This equipment are being shared among 30 health facilities in rural areas across 14 different states/regions.

Additionally, seven units of 10-litre-oxygen concentrators are being presented by the Government of Ghana to India’s Ministry of External Affairs, through the Ghana High Commission in New Delhi.

This gesture makes Ghana the first African country to have undertaken such an initiative.

An oxygen concentrator is a device that concentrates the oxygen from a gas supply by selectively removing nitrogen to supply an oxygen-enriched gas stream.

Medical oxygen becomes essential for the treatment of severe COVID-19 patients.

Mr Amar Deep S. Hari, the Chief Executive Officer of IPMC, who commissioned the items, on a virtual platform, for distribution from India’s famous mosque Dargah Nizamuddin in New Delhi, India, expressed his gratitude to Ghanaians for this assistance.

“This gesture is mainly to show that Ghanaians from Africa are thinking of our Indian brothers and sisters and keeping their well being in our prayers,” he said.

Prior to the second wave of COVID-19, Ghana had become one of the first recipients of the Indian manufactured COVID-19 vaccines under WHO’s Covax program.

Having benefitted from such a facility the present initiative serves as a gesture of gratitude from Ghanaians towards India.

Members of the Indian Community in Ghana have lauded the prompt offer of help, which came from Ghanaians of diverse backgrounds.

"Whether teachers, doctors, students, drivers, businessmen and women or government employees - each of them contributed to the best of their abilities," one of them told the Ghana News Agency.

"It shows the deep roots of friendship that exists between the two communities since independence," he said.

Some expatriates of other countries in Ghana also participated in the noble cause.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has already pledged the services of Ghanaian doctors and nurses to India should they be needed at any time.

Dr Samuel Thomas, an Indian physician, from a community hospital of Tamil Nadu State, expressed his gratitude to Ghanaians for the timely donation, which according to him, would go a long way in treating critically ill patients.

Dr Nikhil Sharma from District hospital Himachal Pradesh, stated: “Some angels from Africa are assisting to save lives in far off India and we will ever remain grateful to them for this gesture.”

His hospital has benefitted from 10 units of Oxygen concentrators.

Mr Frank Adu Jnr, a former Managing Director of CalBank Limited, told the GNA that Ghanaians were deeply touched by the plight of their siblings, hence their decision to support them with oxygen concentrators.

He said the COVID-19 catastrophe knew no boundaries and urged Ghanaians to continue to abide by the safety protocols to prevent another wave of the disease in the country.

Meanwhile, a CNN report indicates that India reported 196,427 new cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday, May 25, the lowest single-day rise in cases since April 14.

This marks a decline from the first week of May when the country was reporting more than 300,000 cases daily. It has also reported 3,511 fatalities, on Tuesday, the lowest single-day death toll since May 4.

On Monday, India became the third country to top 300,000 deaths from the virus, after Brazil and the United States. India has reported a total of 26,948,874 Covid-18 cases, including 307,231 deaths. There are 2,586,782 confirmed active cases in the country, according to the health ministry.