Coronavirus: Government’s ¢2.5m can’t even do ‘proper research’ – NGOs in Health

The coalition of NGOs in Health says the ¢2.5 million Ghana government has committed to the fight against the deadly Coronavirus is not enough to even embark on proper clinical research on a disease or a virus.

Government has committed ¢2.5 million to support the activities of the National Coordinating Sectoral Committee leading the implementation of the prevention plan against coronavirus.

Health Minister Kwaku Agyemang Manu speaking on the floor of Parliament said some 10,000 protection equipment will be imported, while insurance covers provided for all health practitioners at the frontline in the fight against the virus.

“The Government is doing everything possible to prevent and protect against the outbreak. An amount of ¢2.5 million has been allocated as set up a fund towards the implementation of the initial response plan.”

Speaking to Francis Abban on the Morning Starr Monday, the executive director of the NGOs in health Dr Gabriel Benarku said President must show more commitment to the fight by allocating more resources like other nations are doing.

“We want to see how the health personnel are oriented to play critical role, thankfully we have the national ambulance working.

“Th GHC2.5 million cannot even do proper research into a disease of a virus especially a biological one, it is not enough, but if the director-general of the Ghana Health Service says it is enough we leave it that for them”.

He said the country requires about GHC35 million to effectively prepare for a potential outbreak.

However, the director-general of the Ghana Health Service told Morning Starr the amount allocated by government is a “good start” especially as no case has been recorded

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has identified gaps in Ghana’s plan for preparedness, response and control activities to any confirmed case of COVID-19 popularly known as Coronavirus.

A report from the WHO stated that even though the country has capacity in-country to test for COVID-19 disease (Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research and Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research) its readiness status is largely moderate.

The WHO has classified Ghana among Priority 1 countries in the Africa region for being at risk based on flights and passenger volumes.

So far, 15 suspected cases have been tested for coronavirus in Ghana with all 15 testing negative.