The World Health Organisation (WHO) has dispatched a scoping mission to Ghana to engage the Government and stakeholders on the rollout of flagship initiatives for health security in the country.
The scoping mission, a joint mission of the World Health Organisation Regional Office for Africa and the Africa Center for Disease Control, seeks to identify areas where additional capacities and competencies could be developed to close the gaps in Ghana’s health system.
The Africa Region faces a high burden of public health emergencies with increasing complexity.
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed gaps such as limited health workforce, poor information management, and weak health systems.
Professor Francis Kasolo, the WHO Country Representative, speaking at the opening of the three-day meeting, said despite Ghana’s excellence in response to the pandemic and other outbreaks, the WHO wanted the country to be modern in terms of health emergencies hence the scoping mission.
He said the scoping mission had identified some broad areas to be worked on with the Ghanaian counterparts in emergencies to build strong resilience in the health system to withstand any shocks so that in case of any future pandemic there would not be disruptions in services.
Prof Kasolo said this, when done effectively, would help the country detect new diseases much faster, build a strong human resource that could be deployed to deal with outbreaks within 24 hours.
“This will enable Ghana to develop further beyond its current situation and to ensure that it has the capacities to support other countries within the African continent,” he stated.
He said Ghana needed to be prepared by ensuring that all that was needed before, during and after an emergency was made available.
The WHO Country Representative called on the country to address its logistical needs to be able to respond effectively during future outbreaks.
Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, the Director General of the Ghana Health Service, said Ghana had made noteworthy progress, especially in responding to the various outbreaks the country experienced.
He said the mission had come at the right time when the country was faced with non-health hazards such as road crashes, natural disasters, the Akosombo dam spillage, among others.
Dr Kuma-Aboagye thus urged the scoping mission to look at the country’s context because this was part of how the country responds to emergencies.
Participants at the meeting include representatives from the Ministry of Health, the Ghana Health Service, Dr Asamoah Baah, the Presidential Advisor on COVID-19, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Professor Dorothy Yeboah-Manu, the Chief Executive Officer of Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Ministry of Environment, among others.
GNA