Bolgatanga, Dec 3, GNA – As part of efforts towards the fight against the spread of the novel Coronavirus Disease pandemic and improve sanitation practices, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has presented hygiene materials to the Upper East Regional Hospital and AfriKids Medical Health Centre.
The items included; dustbins, hand washing bins, gallons of liquid of soap and disinfectants among others.
At separate functions to present the materials to the management of the health facilities, Mr Baffour Yaw Asare, the Bolgatanga Sector Commander, Customs Division, GRA, noted that the gesture was a follow up to a clean-up exercise the staff of the Authority undertook.
Mr Asare said the exercise, which would be carried out quarterly was part of the Authority’s Corporate Social Responsibility to the tax paying population to keep them healthy to enable them carry out their economic activities, generate more income and pay tax regularly for effective revenue mobilization for national development.
The Sector Commander explained that sanitation and hygiene issues were critical to the GRA and therefore ensuring a clean and conducive environment and providing the necessary materials would encourage people to practise the good sanitation practices.
Mr Asare said improved sanitation and hygiene was the surest way of protecting people from contracting COVID-19 and other communicable diseases such as cholera, malaria among others.
“COVID-19 has come to teach us that washing of hands regularly with soap under running water was key to our health because it could help prevent one from contracting the disease and other illness. It is also important to keep our surroundings neat and tidy to prevent the breed of insects that can cause sickness,” he added.
The Sector Commander called on Ghanaians to imbibe in themselves the spirit of cleanliness and positive behaviour change towards sanitation especially in the era of COVID-19.
Mr Samuel Amoateng Saffoh, the Head of Pharmacy at the Regional Hospital who received the items on behalf of the hospital expressed gratitude to the GRA for the gesture and said the donation was timely.
The Head of Pharmacy noted that the hospital went into distress in providing some of the COVID-19 preventive equipment especially during the peak of the fight and added that COVID-19 was still prevalent and it was the biggest concern of the hospital at the moment.
He gave the assurance that the items would be used for the intended purposes to protect the staff of the hospital and the patients who access healthcare from the hospital to prevent further spread of the COVID-19 and other infections.
At the AfriKids Medical Centre, where Mr Godfred Njindan, the Administrator of the facility received the items on behalf of the management, thanked GRA for the gesture and added that it was as a result of the support like this kind that kept the facility functional over the years.
The Administrator noted that the donation would go a long way to help health workers in the facility to deliver quality healthcare services to clients while keeping safe.
GNA