ADF STAFF
The U.S. government recently donated critical medical supplies and personal protective equipment to a COVID-19 treatment center in Ghana.
The treatment facility is run by the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) in Accra, the country’s capital. U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) was among the agencies involved in the contribution. The center was established at the GAF-owned El Wak Stadium, a 7,000-seat concert and sports venue, as the deadly virus began to spread.
The U.S. previously delivered a cache of medical supplies to Ghana just before the country saw a spike in COVID-19 cases in June.
Ghana is also using two recently donated U.S. field hospitals in its response to the pandemic. The U.S. field hospital packages include 14 shelters with 690 square meters of space, an intensive care unit, radiology unit and 20 beds, according to AFRICOM.
To further support Ghana’s COVID-19 response, AFRICOM has conducted tactical combat casualty care training, medical readiness exercises and conferences focused on pandemic response.
Ghana reported its first two confirmed cases of COVID-19 on March 12, when travelers tested positive after returning from Norway and Turkey. By June, the country had reported more than 8,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases, but the numbers rose dramatically after lockdown restrictions were eased.
COVID-19 has now sickened nearly 29,700 Ghanaians, including more than 2,000 medical workers, and killed more than 150. Another 26,000 people have recovered from the disease.. Most of the country’s cases were confirmed in and around Accra, and most active cases are in the south.
Ghanaian Health Minister Kwaku-Agyemang Manu is among those who have recovered from the virus. Manu tested positive in June and was released from the University of Ghana Medical Centre after a few days.
The U.S. partnership with Ghana dates to its independence in 1957. In recent years, the U.S. has helped bolster Ghana’s food security and led initiatives focused on health, climate change, trade and other essential areas.
Such assistance has helped Ghana’s leaders envision a time when the country is self-sufficient and prosperous. In 2019, Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo unveiled the Ghana Beyond Aid document, which he said will steer the nation “on an irreversible pathway of development.”
“We will march boldly from poverty to prosperity so that we can create the Ghana our forefathers envisaged, the current generation aspires to have, and our posterity will be proud to inherit,” Akufo-Addo said in televised remarks.
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