The U.S. Ambassador to Ghana, Stephanie S. Sullivan has announced new support for Ghana’s COVID-19 response, including oxygen generation equipment to support critical care patients nationwide and equipment to aid in the treatment of infectious disease.
She joined representatives of the Ministry of Health and Ghana Health Service and members of the national COVID-19 case management team at the Ghana Infectious Disease Center for the outdooring of this equipment and a negative pressure isolation system donated through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. Department of Defense, respectively. The package of oxygen support systems will enable Ghana to provide life-saving care for COVID-19 patients, as well as build capacity for future medical needs.
Ambassador Sullivan reiterated the close partnership between the United States and Ghana. “The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us important lessons. No nation can act alone in the face of a pandemic. It is not enough to put an end to the pandemic; together, it is important to build back a better world, one that is more prepared to prevent, detect, and respond to future biological threats, and where all people can live safe and healthy lives.”
The United States is donating four oxygen plants, each with the capacity to produce 250 liters of oxygen per minute, enough for approximately 25 severely ill patients per day. In addition to the oxygen plant at the Ghana Infectious Disease Center, an oxygen plant has already been delivered to Cape Coast Municipal Hospital, and two additional plants will be delivered to Kumasi South Hospital and Tamale West Hospital. USAID supported pre-installation work to ensure sites were ready to receive the plants, including necessary infrastructure, electricity connections, and piping.
USAID will also donate 28 high-flow, high-pressure oxygen concentrators to provide life-saving oxygen at healthcare facilities across Ghana’s 16 regions. Each specialized concentrator can provide oxygen for three severely ill patients at a time. The package of oxygen support includes not only equipment, but also supplies of oxygen cylinders and pulse oximeters, and training health staff and engineers in the use and maintenance of the equipment.
Ambassador Sullivan also announced the donation of a negative pressure isolation system to Ridge Hospital, Accra from the U.S. Department of Defense’s Overseas Humanitarian, Disaster, and Civic Aid program. The $1.5 million isolation system will provide critical care support for up to 30 COVID-19 patients, by isolating infectious patients to provide them safe care that prevents the spread of COVID-19 in a climate-controlled isolation area. The facility will be vital for the current management of COVID-19 cases, and in the long-term it is essential equipment needed to deliver good quality medical services.
These equipment donations follow the arrival of the United States’ donation of over 1.2 million Moderna vaccines to Ghana on September 4, 2021, the largest vaccine donation Ghana has received to date. The United States has already donated 125 million vaccines to more than 80 countries, including more than 26 million in Sub-Saharan Africa alone.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States Government has provided well over $30 million to support Ghana’s COVID-19 response to address the immediate and medium-term effects of COVID-19 on the health, agriculture, and education sectors, and to support the hard-hit private sector. For decades, the United States has been the world’s largest provider of bilateral assistance in health. Since 2009, American taxpayers have generously funded more than $100 billion in health assistance and nearly $70 billion in humanitarian assistance around the world.
